Sixteen-year-old Kathryn DiMaria prefers motor oil and old jeans to lipgloss and high heels. For the last four years DiMaria has been working on an old car, one she’s remodeling and fixing to her own desires. Her own Pontiac Fiero is now almost done. DiMaria came up with the idea of buying car and fixing it up when she was just twelve. ‘I thought it was a good idea because I could learn a lot and the experience will come in handy if I go into engineering later.’ She paid for the project herself with money she earned from babysitting. Her father and uncle help her with the work.
‘It annoys me that people keep asking me “what’s it like to be a girl doing this?”It doesn’t really matter that I’m a girl doing this. I’m able to do this just as well as any other person.’
DiMaria finds it strange that there’s so much attention for her project and is bothered by people who think it’s clever that a girl can remodel a car. ‘It doesn’t matter that I’m a girl, I am able to do this just as well as any other person.’She thinks more women should consider a career in engineering. ‘Most women think it’s a man’s world, but the few women who did enter that world made considerable contributions.’
‘I don’t think that there are enough women working in the engineering field. Most women think it’s a guys world. But I hear so many stories from women who are working in it who brought so much to it.’
Top image courtesy of autobild.de