First Blog Post: Hello World

Hello, my name is Paola and I am a current senior at the University of Texas at El Paso. If you’d like to know a little more about me, check out my About page! I started this blog for many reasons, mostly to share my journey but the main goal is for my journey to inspire other minorities to join this fascinating field. When I tell someone the opportunities and experiences I’ve had, they think I’m lucky… but only because they don’t know my story.

There’s power in allowing yourself to be known and heard, in owning your unique story, in using your authentic voice.

Becoming by Michelle Obama

When I was reading Becoming, I was inspired to share my story becoming a woman in tech to take initiative and encourage more minorities to join STEM. I will always have Michelle Obama to thank for it, she is one of my biggest role models.

I started classes at UTEP in Fall 2016 as a Mathematics major. I didn’t know what I wanted to do yet, all I knew was that I enjoyed solving math problems. When I was introduced to computer science by my older brother, I initially didn’t like it, mostly because it sounded very difficult. A few semesters later, he convinced me to take a computer science class as an elective. I instantly loved it. It was like solving math problems, but instead, I was problem solving for all kinds of different topics. I was fascinated by the power I had behind the computer, knowing I could create anything. Hearing from CS alumni in class convinced me even more; the opportunities they were given, the impact they made, the products they worked on and the companies who hired them. It all sounded like a dream. So, I switched majors to computer science.

By Spring 2019, I was a rising senior in computer science with no experience, planning to graduate Spring 2020. I was constantly reminded that I needed to have experience to get a job once I graduate… I had applied to some internships but I was constantly rejected which started to make me think I just wasn’t qualified. I would see other students with opportunities at Facebook, Microsoft or Google and I would think to myself, “that could never be me.”

Well, that was my first mistake. When you don’t believe in yourself, how do you expect employers to do so? Thankfully, I had my older brother who believed in me even when I didn’t. He gave me life changing advice that kept me from giving up.

My older brother is a Software Engineer at Cloudera in Austin, Texas. Not only is he the main reason I joined this field, but he is my biggest inspiration and motivation. Check out his LinkedIn! He’s also the reason I continued applying for an internship until I got one. His advice got me where I am today and I will now share it with you. Here it is in a nutshell:

First thing’s first, you need to show employers you’re a strong candidate and that begins with you believing in yourself. The most important thing to remember when applying to internships with no experience is that will you will get rejected, and that’s okay! When you starting viewing rejection as growth rather than failure, you are already one step ahead. For every rejection you get, apply to ten more opportunities. Remember: A person who never gave up and got the job on the 100th try is much more respectable than someone who received the job on the 1st try. All you need is one yes that will kick start your career so don’t stop until you get it.

I applied to over 50 internships before I received that one yes from my first internship in Chicago. Once I received that offer, none of the rejections mattered. What mattered was that I wasn’t discouraged and I continued applying, studying and learning from every interview I had. After that internship, so many doors opened for me. My brother was right.

By Spring 2020, I didn’t graduate. But I was starting my 3rd software engineering internship, I was invited to multiple conferences, Microsoft flew me out for an interview in Seattle, I became a Grace Hopper 2020 scholar and an instructional assistant for computer science courses at my university. Today, I have a Software Engineer full time offer from Facebook post-graduation and I haven’t even taken the course Software Engineering 1. Proving that it’s your experience that gets you the job, not the courses you take. I am graduating a year “late”, but the experience I received has been so worth it.

If you’re reading my blog, you might have some interest in coding. But if you don’t, I hope my blog inspires you to learn, maybe even as a hobby. The opportunities that have been presented to me as a minority in tech are unimaginable, there’s endless possibilities in this field. If you’re learning to code or are curious about it, I’m here to help! Contact me.

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XOXO,

Pao