I first heard about Ignite when Ms. Sweeny, the career counselor at Kentridge, asked me to do some art work for her, like a poster or something. She was organizing a "girl party" as she called it and wanted me to see if I could find the music video for "Get the Party Started" by Pink.

Well, that idea didn't pan out, instead I designed two covers for a cd that we would hand out to the girls when they walked in. By the time I was done, Ms. Sweeny had gotten me all psyched up for the event. You see, Ignite is all about informing girls of all the opportunities out there just waiting for you to grab them.

Ever since I saw the Special Edition Star Wars movies and A Toy Story, I knew that I wanted to work in computer special effects and animation. It looked so cool and the people who did the animation looked like they had so much fun doing it. But the problem was that there seemed to be very few girls working in the CGI (Computer Generated Imagery) departments. Women are horribly under represented in the technology field, so what better way to get potential techie-girls intrested than letting them do what girls do best? After all, we do have the gift of gab. So Ms. Sweeny invited three of the industry's brightest to come down and talk to us girls at Kentridge, provide a glimpse of just what we could achieve and a nudge down the right path all while having fun.

On the day of the event, I was all decked out in my pink tie and digicam. The auditorium was filled with music booming off the walls and covered with pink balloons. As the room started to fill up, I stood nervously waiting for something to go wrong, a la Murphy's Law but was pleasantly surprised when the whole thing went down smoothly. I snapped some great pictures and got to meet Cathi, the woman who started it all.

If Ignite ever comes to your school, whether or not it is being advertised as a big party, I highly recommend going. Who knows, you might meet someone who can give you a leg up or point you in the right direction and set you up on the road to success.

Pictures of the Event