Cohort Stories: Meet Kassandra
vol. 5, no. 52 — guest post by Kassandra Rodriquez-Graham
I’ve always prided myself on being both Black and Latina. Not Afro-Latina. Black and Latina. I come from two families that never got along but somehow came together to bring me into the world. I am not like my Puerto Rican mother or my Black father yet I am a culmination of the two. I grew up here in the states like my father but raised by my island-born mother. Though my mother’s name comes before my father’s, I have both last names attached to my first. I am proud to speak both English and Spanish, the drive to study French, and the ear to learn Portuguese. I am proud to be the first grandchild to continue my education and continuously pursue a future unlike many others. But what I’m most proud of is my resilience. My experiences made me who I am. Because I come from two opposing cultures, I often found myself fighting to keep both sides of me together. It’s almost like trying to mix oil and water. Though it’s a fight that can’t be won, it won’t stop me from trying to obtain personal equilibrium.
For me to be successful in tech, I have to continuously be learning. Learning what new systems people are using. I need to be constantly growing in the tech industry because tech is always changing. I’ve always been a lifelong learner and found meaning in adapting to what’s new in tech. You give me a device, I’ll have it figured out in under an hour! I need to constantly learn how to build products with the consumer’s wants and needs as a priority, learn how to be an empathetic researcher who comes up with the solutions users need.
I need to constantly learn how to build products with the consumer’s wants and needs as a priority, learn how to be an empathetic researcher who comes up with the solutions users need.
My time at Hack.Diversity will be what I make of it. As someone who prides herself on being a hardworking, driven, and creative human being, I hope I take advantage of every opportunity Hack throws at me as I am hell bent on learning as much as I can in this fellowship. As someone who is making a career switch from working in Education to learning a new skill and pursuing a career in tech, I have to be diligent and about what it is I can do, what I can learn, and who I can be. I am anxiously awaiting January and what the year 2021 will bring for my career!
