How to get girl power when you come late to the game

If you, like most of us, lacked either the desire or the dollars to attend an all-girls' school, don't worry. There's still time to develop a can-do spirit and make friends with math, science and technology.

Some suggestions from Whitney Ransome of the National Coalition of Girls' Schools:

Overcome your fear of machinery. Look under the hood of a car. Take apart a bike. Get your hands dirty and see how things work. (Sixth-graders at the Seattle Girls' School study the math and physics of bicycles and other simple machines.)

Try to figure things out. Experiment before you holler for help with, say, making graphs on the computer. If you succeed, your confidence will soar.

Request a lesson. If you tried but still couldn't upgrade your operating system, don't ask others to do it for you. Have them teach you how so that you can do it next time.

Buck stereotypes. Challenge the idea that math and science are "male subjects." For fun, visit the Museum of Flight or check out the observatory at the University of Washington's astronomy department.

Stretch yourself. When the tab comes to your group at the restaurant, volunteer to divvy it up and compute the tip.

Take a class with a friend. Women tend to learn best when they collaborate, so sign up for, say, a botany class with a friend. It's more fun to study together.

— Patti Jones