Cohort Stories: Meet Ana
vol. 6, no. 13 — guest post by Ana Veloz Parks
I am most proud of being a Latin gay woman. My mother is Puerto Rican, and my father is Dominican, and growing up in such a community has made me aware of the prejudice that exists between the two. According to society, I was always too Puerto Rican or too Dominican. In the eyes of the community, I could never be both. However, I was proud of both and felt strongly connected to my roots and culture. I deviated from the norm when I came out as gay, and I’ve been married for four years to someone of a mixed ethnicity. We don’t fit the mold being an interracial couple; being both successful and ambitious, as well as being the only person in my family to be with someone of a different race, positions me as a trend setter for future generations. I felt like I was missing a piece of myself for a long time and being able to openly love who I do, has fulfilled me in ways I could never have imagined.
I’ve spent most of my life working in the healthcare industry. I was introduced to the world of data when I began working with health insurance. I had never considered pursuing a career in data science, but as I became more involved, I realized I had a strong interest in the field. The current company I work for was a start-up, and there was no way to measure the department’s success. Over time, I requested, created, and hassled to get the right software in place to serve our members, clients, and end users. With the passage of time, I became one of the system’s key influencers in terms of innovation and upcoming features. I was recently promoted to business analyst, which brought me closer to the back end of all the functionality’s development and gave me a new perspective on what can be done to improve the company’s technology.
I am motivated by a variety of factors, and it is an ongoing process. I am a self-motivated individual who believes that ‘self-motivation’ is a crucial skill. It is necessary to constantly improve one’s skills and to never stop learning.
My greatest motivator is the satisfaction of overcoming an obstacle.
I set challenging but attainable goals on a regular basis and push myself to complete them by the deadline. I frequently strive for perfection, and I enjoy exercising my imagination and creative muscles. The fear of being average is what keeps me going. I am proactive in seeking out new opportunities to learn new skills and take on new challenges. I am confident that this will help me to stand out in the long run.
