Star students aim to make STEM more approachable, increase Indigenous representation

POSTED ON Jun 19, 2023

Two exceptional STEM students are pursuing their dreams and working hard to make them a reality. Florida State University acknowledges their outstanding academic achievements and contributions by recognizing them as “Student Stars.” (Photo credit: ShutterStockStudio, Shutterstock.com

Ana Pereira and Anairis de la Cruz Benito are part of the group of high-achieving students working towards making STEM more accessible and inclusive, with a particular focus on increasing the representation of diverse people.

Ana is majoring in physics in the College of Arts & Sciences. The Student Star plans to graduate in Spring 2025. She has a passion for teaching and uses university resources to inspire others.

Ana has tutored over 50 students one-on-one and 200 in group sessions for general and organic chemistry, biology, and general physics courses through FSU’s Academic Center for Excellence (ACE). She effectively communicates using a mix of visual, auditory, and kinesthetic learning styles, driving results and increasing student confidence in the subject matter.

Besides tutoring, Ana is a researcher for FSU’s Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and a member of FSU’s Chapter of The Florida Georgia Louis Stokes Alliance for Minority Participation (FGLSAMP). These programs have encouraged Pereira to pursue a degree in STEM as a minority student.

Ana became fascinated by physics after taking a course in the FSU Department of Physics, even though she used to shy away from it before college. She hopes to make difficult majors like physics more approachable.

Ana will be working as a researcher at the National Nuclear Data Center at the Department of Energy’s Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York this summer.

Anairis de la Cruz Benito, a mathematics education major at the College of Education, will be graduating in the fall of 2024. She is originally from Cochoapa, Guerrero, Mexico and completed both her undergraduate and master’s degrees in Mexico

As a person from an Indigenous region, she recognized the lack of access to quality education and resources and was motivated to study internationally with the help of a Fulbright scholarship opportunity. She chose a doctoral program offered at Florida State University.

Despite facing numerous challenges, including reading, writing, and speaking in English in class for the first time, she found support from fellow students who shared her experiences by joining the Hispanic Graduate Student Association.

Currently, Anairis is analyzing the solution strategies employed by kindergarten and elementary students when tackling math problems. Her plans include furthering her research into secondary math education and increasing representation for Indigenous students in Western higher education.