Why Being Surrounded By Powerful Women is Addicting
My summer break took an unexpected turn as I grow fonder to the field that I’m currently pursuing. A month before my finals, I have secured an internship at a fashion e commerce site in Jakarta. However, I had the gut feeling that I should be doing something different and I can offer more than what was assigned to me. I decided to leave the internship and apply as a mentor for Web Development class in Generation Girl.
I heard about the Non-profit organisation in June of 2019 and was intrigued on the message that they were trying to spread. I wanted to be a part of it so much I would stalk their instagram page on a daily basis and decided to apply for the mentor position. I remembered telling a friend of mine that I’m don’t feel qualified enough for the position as I, myself was still learning in that area.
I spent the whole week before the camp revisiting my assignments on Web Development, re-learning JavaScript and familiarise myself with BootStrap and GitHub. What I learned from the program is one of the most empowering event that I ever experience and these are the reasons why surrounded by powerful women is absolutely addicting.
You are inspired daily
I spent 5 days surrounded by 60 girls at the age of 12–18 who are spending their holiday to learn about the rising technology field. The courage they have to explore this field at such a young age never cease to amaze me. I remembered being so afraid to step into the tech fields at their age, intimidated by the male — dominated field. Seeing them struggle to the on the same concept that I struggled with previously made me feel less alone. Being there to help them through it though, is such a rewarding experience. These girls never fails to surprise me on how fast they grasp the concept and how curious they are about everything.
Being the youngest mentor, I seek for stories from other mentors on the reason they’re pursuing the field. These stories made me more excited on the broad spectrum of career paths that I could explore. Stories on how they stumbled upon it by accident, changing their profession entirely or overcoming their fear of coding helps me to further myself.
Surrounded by Generation Girl coordinators that are so passionate about the organisation itself inspires me. Seeing them coming in and out between their day jobs and being present during the camp shows their dedication to opening the doors for women in the tech field. These kind of passion and dedication is what I aspire to apply on my studies and future projects.
Encouraged to find your creative ways
Getting into the tech field for women is not always easy and some people have to improvise their way in. I remembered the reactions I got from my friends in high school when I said I’m going into an IT degree. Some expressed their admirations, some are hesitant to react and others raised a big question on my decision. Listening to stories of how others have to learn from the ground up to be in the industry brought an interesting feeling within me. I could feel all of my doubts, hesitation and frustration replaced by a huge admiration and passion. At the end of the camp, I feel like I have found my community where I could talk about why CSS brings me so much joy or how much I time it took me to understand JavaScript without feeling guilty because I bore them so much.
Guiding girls who are new to web development also pushed me to improvise my way of teaching. My co-mentor and I had to improvise our lesson plan within the first hour of lesson due to the different expectations on their coding knowledge level. Some of them came with basic knowledge in HTML and CSS, some are advance in programming and others have no idea what we were talking about. With this, I have to be creative on how I deliver the concept to them; explaining through visuals and metaphors is the most effective way I found. I remembered having to explain the concept of Flex Box to one of the girls visually utilising her lunch box and the container within it. Took a few tries but she ended up using it on her final project and it made me really happy.
You will be surprise by the power of sharing
I have always been independent since I was little and it is difficult for me to understand that I can depend on others. The problem got really prominent during my first semester at university. I was afraid of asking questions to my peers, tutors and lecturers and ended up crying myself while doing assignments. The fear of being called stupid or ignorant always stop me from asking help.
Being on the other side of the classroom brought a whole different perspective to me. I feel honoured when the girls ask questions again and again. I find it most enjoyable when I have a one on one session with the girls who are curious on making certain things happen on their website. There was one moment on the first day when we show them how their HTML texts show on the browser and I can see their eyes lit up seeing it happened on their own laptop. That was the moment when I was sure that I meant to be there. As incompetent as I felt before the camp, I know now that my knowledge is useful for others and I have so much to share to these girls.
I could not thank the Generation Girl coordinators enough for the opportunity and trust they put on me to participate in the Winter Camp. The experiences throughout these 5 days is something I did not know I needed. I am so grateful for the volunteers, mentors and participants that have curated the sense of community and a fun environment. Surrounded by these powerful women (and a couple guys) feels like I belong and that is why it is so addicting.
