I'm average

Published: Tuesday, 05 March 2013

I used to think I was brilliant.  That I was different.  That I was special.  But then I realised a lot of people feel that way about themselves.  And if everyone is brilliant and special, then who are the average people?

They make up the majority of all surveys, so they must exist.

And so I chose to be one of the average people.  A dime in a dozen.  Another brick in the wall.

I don't mind being average, because if I'm average, it means I have to work twice as hard if I want to achieve anything.

About Me

Marita ChengForbes named me a world's top 50 woman in tech & 30 Under 30. I founded Robogals and Aipoly and was Young Australian of the Year 2012. Currently working on robotics company Aubot. I'm the youngest Member of the Order of Australia (AM) and I give speeches around the world.

I tweet @maritacheng and I'm on Facebook.

Subscribe

Enter your email address to receive my latest blog posts: 

 

Random Articles

  • ABC "Can You Hear Me?"

    ABC made this short video, as part of a three-part series, about my Chinese culture and Brett Leary’s (founder of Virtual Songlines) Aboriginal...

  • The worst that can happen

    When I was growing up, my mum earned about $20,000 a year to support herself, my brother and I.  By living very frugally and only spending money on...

  • Love is...

    Spending long, snug evenings with your significant other. Making time to look after your family. Jesting, gabbing and chilling with friends. Building...

  • Škoda - Brilliant Not Famous

    Car company Škoda decided that I am "brilliant not famous", and created this content piece video to show the strength of their convictions.  :P...

  • Anything is Possible: 100 Australian engineering leaders

    Engineers Australia and Engineering Heritage Australia decided to feature me as one of 100 Australian engineering leaders in their book, “Anything...

  • The Impostor Syndrome

    I first learnt about the impostor syndrome at the Grace Hopper Celebration for Women in Computing in 2011.  A Stanford student asked a question...

  • Fetch Robotics

    I visited Fetch Robotics as part of a field trip for a Stanford course I took. Fetch Robotics sold to Zebra Technologies for $290 million in 2021....

  • Officeworks

    Officeworks got in touch to film this short content editorial piece. They filmed a Robogals workshop in Melbourne, our Jevaroo robot in action and an...

  • Remembering my piano teacher Mrs Langtree

    When people ask me abut my influences growing up, I tell them about my piano teacher, Mrs Langtree. I went to my first piano lesson when I was 7...

  • Your work is never done

    When I started Robogals, I thought going to schools and teaching girls robotics should get more to choose physics, chemistry and advanced maths;...