4 Questions with Ruth-Ann Hazel Armstrong
Student at Stanford University Majoring in Computer Science and Minoring in Economics
Ruth-Ann Hazel Armstrong (she/her) is a junior at Stanford University from Spanish Town, Jamaica, majoring in Computer Science and minoring in Economics. Outside of classes, she is involved in the Stanford Black Society of Engineers, The Stanford Daily, the Caribbean Students Association, and Stanford Women in Engineering. She enjoys writing poetry, journalism, and watching Jubilee videos on Youtube.
1. Where’s your hometown?
Spanish Town, Jamaica.
2. How did you get into STEM?
I decided that I wanted to pursue a career in STEM — specifically Computer Science — back when I was in high school in Jamaica.
Throughout my childhood, mathematics was my favorite subject by far, but I also really enjoyed creating things. When I started coding for the first time in one of my high school classes, I realized I could combine my love for reasoning and mathematical logic with my love for being creative by pursuing Computer Science. Even now, in one of my CS classes that involves lots of graphing and data visualization, I’ll play around with different colors and parameters after I’m done with assignments to see all the different aesthetically pleasing graphs I can create.
This summer, I plan to use my free time to learn about the visual elements of app design so that I can build a few small creative apps on my own. Building useful software products, and being able to apply my creativity when designing them, is something I am very excited about as I progress in my career.
As I’ve navigated tech spaces, I’ve noticed a severe underrepresentation of people from diverse backgrounds, which has led to algorithmic bias, a lack of focus on solving problems specific to minoritized groups, and a general lack of input from a diverse set of people when it comes to solving the biggest problems in technology. By being a software engineer, I hope to remedy some of these issues by advocating for and serving the needs of people who are often neglected when software products are being built.
3. What’s a challenge you’ve faced, and how did you get through it?
When I had just arrived at Stanford, I would often avoid speaking up in my classrooms and contributing to discussions, even when I had something to say. In addition to having an accent, I was often one of few Black women in the classroom, so I felt very insecure about speaking up. I was afraid that I would say something silly, that people wouldn’t be able to understand me, or that I didn’t have anything of value to add to the discussion because everyone else seemed so ridiculously smart.
Eventually, I realized that my position as a Black Jamaican woman in a classroom at Stanford was a HUGE reason for me to speak up because the perspective I was able to bring to discussions was one that the people around me would probably otherwise never be exposed to. By speaking up, I could voice the needs and perspectives of people who had identities similar to mine, and advocate for others who are often overlooked in tech spaces.
I also realized that I was under no obligation to be perfectly right if I wanted to contribute something; I was in these classrooms because I wanted to learn. One of the best ways to learn is to try, then make mistakes and learn from them. I realized the more I spoke, the more others would get used to hearing accents like mine, and the less other Caribbean people would have to worry about not being understood.
Although it was a difficult process, I slowly pushed myself to speak up in my classes and contribute whenever I could. I’m a junior now, and I rarely (if ever) hesitate to raise my hand — or now, unmute my mic on Zoom — when I feel like speaking up.
4. What’s something you’ve done you are immensely proud of?
Recently, I learned to swim! When I was about four years old, I was doing swimming lessons and accidentally slipped from the pool wall into the pool. Ever since, I abandoned trying to navigate bodies of water.
Last summer, I went to the beach with friends and we decided to do an obstacle course in the sea that was designed to be safe even for people who didn’t know how to swim. As soon as I hit the water, I started to panic (even though I had a life jacket and was being helped by guides) and that was the tipping point: I resolved to learn how to swim before 2019 ended.
I enrolled in a class at Stanford, and after weeks of nervously holding onto the pool rails, I can now swim and feel far more confident navigating the water. I am very excited to show off my skills next time I’m back at the beach in Jamaica!
