Amish Country Native with Tech Dreams

I grew up in rural Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, alongside the Luddite Amish, as the oldest of six children to two old-school physician parents. After my freshman year at the University of Pennsylvania, I came home to intern in IT at my dad’s hospital. The hospital was beginning the transition to an Electronic Medical Record (EMR) system, and many of the older physicians were not pleased about it. I spent mornings and afternoons in the ER lounge, teaching surgeons how to start documenting their charts in the new electronic system. Despite their protests, I thought that medicine was being transformed before my eyes. After my junior year, I moved to London to intern at a health tech start up. I worked on the business side, but was growing more and more fascinated by the tech behind the application. I took a semester off from college to stay in London and learn more about the field, traveling to health tech conferences and staying on top of the latest technologies. When I returned for my senior spring, I knew I wanted to work in tech, but the career options for non-engineers were uninteresting to me, and after I graduated, I thought it was too late to learn a new skill like coding. I stalled my transition to the ‘real world’ by taking a service fellowship through AmeriCorps, where I again found myself pulled to the technical side of the nonprofit. I jumped on the opportunities to edit the website or automate data processes. At this point, I had to try coding out, no matter how scary it was to start a new skill with no previous knowledge or experience. I began CS50X online and then discovered programming really excites me, and I am confident that I am ready to commit to a career shift. Ultimately, my career goals are to work in health tech, to transform medicine, and to improve health outcomes through technology. Betty Holberton, like myself, attended the University of Pennsylvania, and did not graduate with a CS or engineering degree. She transformed her life to become a prolific computer programmer, and I aspire to do the same.

During this metamorphosis, I want to ensure that I am best preparing myself for the competitive industry of computer engineering. I believe the Holberton School will prepare me to enter the field of software engineering through project-based experiences, rather than lectures and theory. Hands-on learning is the way that I learn best because I am best equipped to learn outside the traditional classroom, working hard to solve problems and find solutions through trial and error. Holberton School has the mentorship and experience to help their students succeed, and I am ready to take on the challenge and privilege of a Holberton School education.