As a kid, I’ve always found myself specifically drawn to studying natural science. For someone who loves solving problems, and being surrounded by stories of humanity, being a doctor seemed to be the only career path I could take. I never thought of studying software engineering because I have always imagined it as a man’s job and never thought I would fit in. That was a couple of years ago but I am very positive that there are many girls out there who still have this stereotypical image of a software engineer. It is not until I got introduced to Women in Tech, that I completely changed my perception. Although it’s clearly visible that there is a strong gender bias in the tech industry, I saw that there is space for people like me with values of solving problems and impacting humanity aligns.
In my first few weeks of school, things weren’t going my way. Being a girl with no prior programming knowledge surrounded by computer whizzes was tough. Frustration was taking me all in. But on the bright side, it was an eye-opening moment. Anxious to cope with my peers, I started devouring every piece of information that comes my way. I spent hours googling and asking the internet about programming and software tutorials. Since there isn’t a wrong way of learning things, I kept on exploring new methods that suit my learning style best. I was attending online courses and taking lessons via videos. Thanks to the internet almost everything I needed was only a fingertip away.
Throughout my exploration, I have come across various subfields of software engineering. Digging into this diverse area has made me realize the ample opportunities it comes with and how one can choose a field to specialize in based on his/her interests, skills, and strengths. I personally found myself leaning towards the web development area. The process of creating something tangible out of an abstract idea was so fascinating to learn. Web development gave me the ability to see the world from another perspective and has helped me solve problems that I face in my day-to-day life. Learning this new skill was constantly giving me the feeling of accomplishment, which in my case happened to be my number one motivator. Throughout the process, I also worked on bettering my communication and other soft skills.
I aspire to become a very significant figure in the tech industry. Living in a country that is still new to the technology era, I believe that there is a lot to be done. I also wish to give back to what the world has given to me. I am among the privileged ones, living in a city and having access to quality education, but I know that most of the girls out there have a handful of these opportunities. My dream is to help these bright girls free themselves from the meshed society had put them in and conquer their dreams.
Women in STEM
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