MEET VALLEY’S FALL 2025 CAMPUS CULTURE SECTION OPENER: SIMONE STAGER

Some may say, “You can’t do it all,” but junior Simone Stager is proving that you can.

A 20-year-old student from State College, Simone is a security risk analysis major who has multiple jobs both on and off campus. With a jam-packed schedule, Simone demonstrates success each day with grace, poise and a smile on her face.

For one, Simone is a Starbucks barista and will often work morning shifts, meaning her days often start at 4:30 a.m.

Her day will continue with classes and clubs. At Penn State, Simone is the Operations Officer for the Red Cell Analytics Club, an organization directly related to her SRA major. Her job is to coordinate different events, and the club meets every Monday and Wednesday. One of the upcoming events she has to plan is their club’s formal.

On Tuesdays and Thursdays, Simone attends meetings for Penn State EcoReps, where she is the Community Collaborations Committee Assistant Program Coordinator. Since Simone is technically a student faculty, she has even more commitments than last year.

It’s just a great way to make new friends, to meet new people, to get new connections.

Simone also occasionally works as a nanny for two kids, where watching them grow up has helped her learn that time is something she cannot take for granted. Simone has been around kids her whole life. 

Her experience has given her the skills to communicate effectively with everyone she interacts with. Nannying brings Simone joy and has also taught her patience, which she carries with her in other aspects of her life.

What I can do is try my hardest. I can show up and I can put on a smile and I can give as much as I can give for that day.

Simone is a security risk analysis major, but her journey to get there was not a straight path. Simone originally wanted to be a writer, but her mom, an information sciences and technology professor at Penn State, told her that she needed to pick a major within her field. 

At first, Simone was angry about the pressure, but after discovering security risk analysis, a true passion began to form.

“The more that I read about what my major was, was really the turning point. When I kind of realized that I could walk into spaces, and be who I am, and own who I am and run exactly what I needed to do — it helped.”

A self-proclaimed baddie in STEM, who embraces her femininity, Simone has dealt with many challenges that come with being a woman in a male-dominated field. She explained that she doesn’t always enjoy the environment, and it’s difficult to feel like she belongs in some spaces.

In the Red Cell Analytics Club, Simone and two other board members make up over half of the women who attend their meetings.  

I feel like a lot of the time I’m really misunderstood and I feel like people see a baddie in STEM and they really want to bring her down. And that just isn’t going to happen anymore.

Simone’s experiences have sparked a passion to bring more women, especially women of color, into these spaces. The issue is not that there’s no interest, but these women are often told that they can’t or shouldn’t do it. Simone explained in the current field, women work incredibly hard only to receive “okay” treatment.  

Since Simone has first-hand experience of the struggles women in STEM face, she tries her best to make sure everyone around her feels welcome in these spaces.

“Hopefully over time, we’re able to change,” said Simone. “And it’s definitely not going to be an overnight thing, but it’s something that I’m really passionate about because I would like to see more women leading things and taking a stand and making sure that their voices and opinions are heard.”

“Nobody’s going to give you a seat at the table. And a lot of the time, it feels like there isn’t room for you, but everybody else is jamming into it, so you might as well too.”

As the youngest of four girls in her family, Simone has always been surrounded by intelligent and driven women. Throughout her journey, Simone has been able to rely on the women in her life to help give her the guidance and support she needs — one of the most influential being her mom. 

“I don’t know another woman who’s like my mom, like she’s genuinely Barbie,” said Simone. “My mom has done everything.”

On top of her work both in and out of the STEM field, Simone also braids hair professionally and lifts at the gym. She even runs her own lifting account on Instagram where she shares her workouts with an online community.

Nobody gets to tell you who you are. Nobody gets to tell you what you’re capable of. Nobody gets to tell you what you deserve and what you don’t deserve.

Although she’s faced many challenges within her field, Simone has never backed down and has continued to stay true to herself. Through her leadership, strength and perseverance, Simone is proving that it is possible to do it all.

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