When an 8-year-old girl feels like she is alone, take to the internet to find others like her. At least that's what one mother did and it worked.
Sophia Spencer's mom wrote into Entomological Society of Canada last year about her daughter's love for bugs. Sophia was teased for her love of bugs, but her mom wanted to show her she wasn't weird or strange for loving bugs and insects.
And when the Entomological Society of Canada tweeted the letter with #BugsR4Girls ... an entire #BugsR4Girls thing started happening on Twitter. Then, Sophia got paired up with an entomology PhD candidate, to write a paper about how services like Twitter can help get more women interested in science.
All of this awesome support showed Sophia she wasn't the only girl in the world who loved bugs and insects. In Sophia's article Engaging for a Good Cause: Sophia's Story and Why #BugsR4Girls, she says:
My favorite bugs are snails, slugs, and caterpillars, but my favorite one of all is grasshoppers. After my mom sent the message and showed me all the responses, I was happy. I felt like I was famous. Because I was! It felt good to have so many people support me, and it was cool to see other girls and grown-ups studying bugs. It made me feel like I could do it too, and I definitely, definitely, definitely want to study bugs when I grow up, probably grasshoppers... My mom says I'm back to being my funny old self with my confidence after seeing all the girls who like bugs.
Amazing. Thank you Internet for doing some good sometimes.