Goldman Sachs Girls Who Code Program 2016 — An Insight into our Projects and Mentorship Experience
In the second part of the Goldman Sachs Girls Who Code blog series, four girls from the program share the projects they worked on this summer and what the mentorship experience meant to them.
Rosa:
My group and I are creating a personal health app that not only targets young adults but adults as well. Our app is made to combat addictions and help you stray away from them by providing healthier or less addictive alternatives as well as send push notifications to remind you not to perform ‘x’ task. Our project consists of using HTML/CSS and JavaScript for the web-app, which we all learned very quickly. Our website would consist of a login/sign up page followed by a series of questions to identify our user on a more personal level to better assist him/her.
This was the best summer experience as I got to meet successful women in technology at Goldman Sachs. I am so thankful for my mentor, who was kind enough to go out of her way to help me, and reminds me that I do have the potential to succeed. We usually have tasks to discuss during our sessions, and she informs me about little “hacks” that I could use later in life. Whether we’re talking about budgeting, loans, college choices, resume building, or professional profiles, I am always eager to see my mentor on Monday and learn more from her. She has been a great inspiration, and I hope to give back and do the same she has done for me.
Julia:
My group is creating a multi part game that will teach kids about the election. There are different levels and minigames (trivia, a runner, maze, memory game) that correspond to different regions of the United States. At the end, the player with the most delegates will win. We’re coding the whole project in python, which we have a lot of experience with because we spent two weeks learning the necessary skills. We also hope to create a website to store the game for which we will need HTML and CSS.
My mentors have been amazing! From talking about their college experiences to giving me suggestions, my mentors have made Mondays fun. They’ve helped me narrow down my college list, and brainstorm ideas for applications. I’m really happy that I could build such a connection with women in their company.
Noa Hines:
My group’s project is meant to educate kids and teens alike about how to be an ally. The project is a web-based game where the avatar comes across diverse groups of people being oppressed or bullied, and must choose the response that both defends the victim and educates the perpetrator. We are mainly coding in JavaScript, but we’ll also need to use HTML and CSS.
Mentor sessions have been really beneficial so far; they have gone through everything from the process of applying to college, and studying computer science in college, to doing technical interviews before coming to Goldman Sachs. They have a lot of tips for us!
Noor Kamal:
My group’s project, MakeSpace, wants to help people affected with anxiety. We want our app to soothe the mind that can be cluttered with fear and stress, especially during anxiety attacks. Hence, MakeSpace wants to make space in your mind for relaxation and calm thoughts. Our app provides soothing gifs, mantras, breathing techniques, and recordings. Users can essentially “like” their favorite gifs or videos so that they will automatically show up on their homepage, a feature that is present on many social media apps. We learned about HTML, CSS, and Javascript during the last two weeks, and how to create different types of websites. These lessons definitely facilitated the project we’re working on now since it’s a website too! We have encountered many challenges so far — compilation errors, design difficulties, and others — but this program has taught us how to adopt an organized thinking process and how to come up with efficient plans. Because of this, our group is able to come up with effective solutions to these challenges.
My mentor has taught me so much about college, life after college, jobs, and technologies. Every session, there are lessons, advice, and laughs. From her, I learned about personal finance, resumes, and more — lessons that I would not have learned anywhere else! She and all the other mentors, continues to inspire me to be an empowering woman in the tech field when I grow up. When I walk out of this program, I will be equipped with more knowledge about careers than I did walking in.
