Women Who Reign: Adithi Raghavan

“According to all known laws of aviation, there is no way that a bee should be able to fly. Its wings are too small to get its fat little body off the ground. The bee, of course, flies anyways. Because bees don’t care what humans think is impossible.” ― Bee Movie

Adithi is a high school junior from Washington State who enjoys spreading the power of technology through her community. As a sixth grader, Adithi joined her school’s Code club on a whim. The first day she walked into the classroom, Adithi looked around and found herself staring at a room full of boys. As the only girl, Adithi remembers the helpless and uncomfortable feelings that ensued while being in what amounted to an unsupportive environment, ultimately feeling dissuaded from pursuing any interest in CS. Thus, she started investing her time into other hobbies like writing and playing the piano after school in lieu of going to Code club.

However, her mother, being a woman in STEM, understood the obstacles she was facing and encouraged Adithi to find resources online through platforms such as Coursera and edX. It was by working through these courses that Adithi encountered her first bug and a newfound love for problem solving. Seeking to share what she had learned, Adithi began the process of bringing a Girls Who Code club to her school during her freshman year. This proved to be quite the task, for…