Cohort Stories: Meet Yosef
vol. 4, no. 70 — guest post by Yosef Tefera
Before I became interested in technology, I was really interested in business, and still am to this day. In my early years of college, I concentrated in finance and was really interested in learning the building foundations of creating a successful business. Along that journey I would follow and watch successful influencers on Instagram and YouTube and try to get a better grasp on how they are able to grow their net worth. What I learned at that time was that although they had great business ideas, what allowed their business to succeed was the technology behind it. I always think about business like Uber and Lyft which is so simple yet so unique, creating a platform using technology to satisfy the demands of passengers who need a ride and creating jobs for drivers.
During my journey to Hack.Diversity, the biggest milestone I have achieved was running my own business.
Last summer I took on an internship which enabled me to start my own painting service. I was in charge of all aspects of the business from hiring and marketing to sales and production. I also made the dean’s list for the first time this past semester. I failed a class for the first time about a year ago and I took it very seriously and changed my approach. Ever since then, I have been really focused on my classes, resulting in reaching the dean’s list.
One challenge I have been dealing with is helping my mom recover from a broken ankle. I am an only child and she is a single parent so I have taken on a big load of responsibility over the last six months as she was not mobile. I’ve had to manage school, work, and being a caretaker. I take her to all her appointments and now that she started work again, I drop her off and pick her up because she has not fully recovered to travel on her own. Another challenge is navigating through college without any real guidance.
My mom migrated to the US when I was four years old, so going through the entire college process and navigating through school throughout the years has been a challenge.
Outside of myself, I would say my family is my biggest motivation. I have seen the sacrifices they made for me so it’s only right that I do everything in my power to succeed to make them proud. What excited me about the innovation industry is that the possibilities are endless. As I stated earlier, I am really fascinated by companies like Uber/Lyft for their ability to create jobs and satisfy the needs of their customers. What excites me about Hack.Diversity is the opportunity that is presented to have an internship, as well as creating new relationships.
