By Michelle Lang

If you’ve ever heard the lyrics to Brad Paisley’s “Letter to Me”, you know that the country crooner made a song of taking his adult wisdom and imparting it on his 17-year-old self, reminding him not to bother arguing with his dad, to enjoy the adventure of his date with Bridget, and to thank his teacher for spending time with him.

The same concept is done daily by parents telling their kids, “Back when I was your age…”

Now, in honor of Women’s History Month, the Science Club for Girls is embracing the same concept; they’ve asked bright women leaders in science, engineering and technology careers to write “a letter to my young self.” What’s the point? To inspire young would-be scientists, highlight women in STEM, challenge the “geek” stereotype of those in science and enlighten people about the number of science careers available.

What interests us is that several of the Mass High Tech 2009 Women to Watch honorees have written a letter to their young selves.

Anna Mracek Dietrich, chief operating officer of Terrafugia Inc., wrote to herself, “You always regret the things you don’t do more than the things you do” (within boundaries of legality and logic).

Intel lead technologist Mondira Pant advised her 15-year-old self to “enjoy your present, welcome your doubts but don’t be afraid.”

Ronnie Maffa, Director of Social Software Product Development at IBM Corp., told her young self on the edge of possibly taking on a new project: “Be prepared that you may not be chosen. More importantly, be prepared that you will be chosen. Either way, you would have strengthened your position and preparedness for the future.”

The letters are another attempt to get science in front of girls and women. You might wonder just how many of these groups we need. After all, we’ve got the Science Club for Girls, Society of Women Engineers, the Association for Women in Science — and that’s just with a quick Google search. But it comes down to peer pressure. Just as friends, family and neighbors can sway one to a life of drugs, enough women leading interesting lives and careers in science may sway others to embrace science and technology.

So that’s our strategy too. Mass High Tech is peer pressuring girls and encouraging women leaders in science with our annual Women to Watch event on Friday, March 19, and our special report, coming out March 17, dedicated to this year’s crop of inspirational women in tech. By now, we’ve talked to our 11 new women honorees, interviewing them on their early influences, challenges and accomplishments, and they’re shaping up to be another group of go-getters. To hear what the women have to say, join us for breakfast on March 19.