Cohort Stories: Meet Flavio
vol. 2, no. 16 — guest post by Flavio Andrade
I was born in Cabo Verde, a group of islands off the west coast of Africa, where I lived until I was seven years old. In 2004, I immigrated to the United States with my father, leaving my mother and the rest of her side of the family behind. Being that young, I did not understand how much my future would change for the better. I was only worried about the fact that I would be living very far away from my friends and family. However, when I did go back to Cabo Verde in 2010 and 2011, I wanted to come back to the United States as soon as possible. I wanted to go to school, learn, and work.
In Cabo Verde, I noticed how many people struggled to live — the lack of work, how some people did not earn enough to live off of, and how people like my mother had to take care of the family, with the very little that they made each month. After going back and seeing and experiencing these hardships, I made it my goal to give my mother and the rest of the family a more financially stable life. These experiences have shaped me to work harder and for the betterment of my family in Cabo Verde. They motivate, and push me to do better, learn more, and make more commitments when it comes to my education and my future. As a result, I am always looking for new avenues of opportunity that could lead me to anything that could help my family.
I have encountered many opportunities, small and big, and I have always taken advantage of them. The most important ones that I have encountered have been at the University of Massachusetts Boston. It is there that I am studying computer science and learning a new skills that will always give me a chance to take care of my family. Then, Hack.Diversity introduced their programming, and I can already tell that it will open more doors than ever before.
Growing up, I never thought that I would be studying computer science. I wanted to be a pilot or an astronaut like many other kids. Either one of those was a dream job for me. As I grew up, I became influenced by music, and I wanted to make a platform for music collaboration. For me to do this, I knew had to learn to program.
Before I started attending college, I began taking free online courses on programming and building websites. Later, during my freshman semester at UMass Boston, I decided to change my major from liberal arts to computer science.
This was a decision that I do not regret. At first I was not sure I wanted to do this, because computer science is heavily math based. However, as time went on, I have realized that the math was no issue. What was even better to know, was that there are many jobs available in this field. More importantly, I have become better at problem solving, creativity, and putting those skills into code. I am always learning about new and amazing technology, through the strong passion that I have developed for the art of computer programming.
I am also very proud to be a Hack.Diversity Fellow, to work alongside the amazing people that have put this organization together, and the other 31 Fellows in my Cohort.
What I like most about Hack.Diversity is the bonding and unity that comes with the program.
We are not only able to bond with other Fellows and organizers, but with our mentors to help us grow in our field and maintain our career goals. It feels great to know that the Hack.Diversity team has put in so much time and effort to train us for interviews, put our visions together, make us stronger individuals and stronger candidates for job opportunities that some of us may never have had encountered. This is very important for the technology industry which is not as diverse as it could be, as diversity is great for innovation.
I’m very excited to finally know what it feels like to be working in the technology industry, and put the skills that I have acquired throughout school to work. What is even more important is that my continued commitment and participation in Hack.Diversity is not only helping me, but also helping my family, because if I am successful, so are they.
