Engineering twins advocate diversity in STEM

By: Gerard Albert/ Staff writer

 

Shonda and Shalisha Witherspoon are sitting side by side dressed in all black, physically identical down to the gold necklaces they’re wearing. They both have the same cadence in their speech: fast and excited.

The identical twins are graduating this spring with master’s in information technology with a concentration in software engineering. Shalisha is finishing with a 4.0 and Shonda, a 3.98.   

They answer the yes or no questions in unison and then begin to elaborate; whoever is not talking will chime in occasionally if her sister is struggling to find a word. Because of appearances, keeping up with which sister is talking can get confusing, something the twins say they do purposely to mess with friends and professors.

The twins finished their degree in only a year, taking classes full time while working as Research Assistants at the University’s High Performance Database Research center. There the twins worked with a database of satellite images and information that could map things like crime in real time. This experience helped prepare them for their new jobs as software engineers at the IBM Research center in New York.

“We will still be doing research and will be working in the same department but now we will be working on different projects,” said Shonda.

The transition into graduate school was not an easy one, even though the twins finished at the top of their undergraduate class.

“Our first semester was rough for us, the expectations were higher, the professors were piling us with work,” said Shonda.

The sisters took all their classes together and were study partners.

“I’m better at memorization and Shonda is better at math,” said Shalisha. “When I didn’t understand something, she would help me out and vice versa.”

Their academic strengths are not their only differences.

“Shonda is a procrastinator, so it’s up to me to tell her it’s time to study” said Shalisha.

But according to the twins, their personalities complement each other. Shonda is more outgoing, but more likely to break down than Shalisha, which is shown through Shalisha’s positivity, according to Shonda.

Outside of school the twins enjoy playing video games, drawing and watching anime. It was anime that sparked their interest in Japanese culture, according to the sisters. When they found out about FIU’s foreign language requirement they decided to take Japanese.

After three visits and a study abroad trip to Japan, the sisters received a job offer from IBM in Tokyo. However, having their previous internship at the New York location and family in the country led to their decision on staying in the United States.

“I always said if we got an offer from Japan we were going to take it, but the offers didn’t compare. But there are still opportunities to work in Tokyo because the labs are connected on certain projects,” said Shonda.

The sisters have spent time speaking to underrepresented demographics in STEM like women and minorities. They will continue to do this in New York through a program called ‘Girls go TechKnow,’ that teaches young children about electronics and computer science.

Shonda and Shalisha said it’s important for these minorities to see people that look like them succeeding in the field and that it can be a catalyst for more diversity in STEM.

Their new jobs start this summer, but until then the sisters said they are going to spend time with their family and catch up on some video games and anime.

 

Featured image courtesy of Gerard Albert

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