Many people who are successful in STEM fields were lucky to have someone who turned them on to a topic and encouraged their interest. For Faith Reyes, that person was her high school physics teacher, Ms. Bolster. Whereas Reyes had earlier studied math and science without seeing how those subjects could be applied outside the classroom, her teacher helped her connect those dots and experience the excitement of investigating the physical world. With Ms. Bolster’s help, Reyes started a physics club where students would gather before school and conduct experiments. “I just sort of fell in love with physics then,” Reyes says. “And luckily, as I began to study it more and more, I found I landed ex...