Favour Nerrise was interested in engineering even before she knew what it was. As young as 5 growing up in Cameroon, Favour was the one her family relied on to repair a broken television or telephone.
“I don’t know how or why, but I knew how to fix everything,” she said.
But Nerrise didn’t have a lot of guidance on how to channel her abilities.
“Exposure to engineering doesn’t really exist for my family,” she said. “Growing up, there wasn’t really anyone telling me that engineering was a path I could take. For a Black, African woman, no one is really telling you to become an engineer.”
Nerrise credits her mother with fostering her interests.
“My mom has the best tenacity in the world,” she said. “She would put me in every program possible. She didn’t go to college, but if I told her I found a flyer for something, she’d drive me, she’d pay for it, she’d make sure I got there.”
