Cohort Stories: Natneal
vol. 5, no. 65 — guest post by Natneal Kibe
I grew up in a developing country called Ethiopia in Africa. A major challenge of living in Ethiopia was poor internet access. The only way I learned more about programming and technology was using mobile phones. I used to spend all the money I was given for a snack and clothes on accessing the internet to learn more about technology. Each time before I started to access the internet I always planned what to download or save to my mobile phone so I could use it offline at my house. Then, four years ago, I moved to the United States. The first challenge I had to overcome when I came to the United States was the language barrier. I had to improve my English on my own to excel in my education. The first months after I came to the United States I listened to podcasts, read books 24/7, and studied thousands of english words. The learning experience took roughly seven months to improve my English to the desired level. Then, the skills and knowledge I taught myself helped me to focus and excel in my education.
Before I came to the United States, my first introduction to technology and computer science was from the books I found in my house when I was in Ethiopia which were the books that my uncle used to learn his field of education, Computer Networking. The books had the name “Sun Microsystem Java” and I was intrigued by the name “Java”. I wanted to know what the books were about. At the time, I did not have a personal computer to explore the subject of these books deeply, but my older brother told me they were books related to computers. When I realized this, my interest and love for computers started to grow. In grade seven, I found another book at the library titled “C#” then I learned more about the field of Software Engineering and core concepts from that book. Despite not having physical access to computers at the time, those books opened the doors to the world of programming.
I believe that I still have a long way to go on my journey to become a computer programmer, and this is where Hack.Diversity comes in. I was introduced to the Hack.Diversity Program for the first time by my older brother, Eyosias Kibe, who was a 2020 Hack Fellow. Last year, I saw my brother’s life changing because of Hack.Diversity. Hack.Diversity has helped my older brother tap into his ultimate potential and become the most skilled and professional version of himself. I saw my older brother transitioning from a computer science student into a professional software developer. My brother shared his success story to me, and he said “I got my first internship at Liberty Mutual all because I joined Hack.Diversity!” Listening to his success story and seeing it with my own eyes has inspired me to be part of Hack.Diversity.
I believe that Hack.Diversity is going to help to cultivate my skills so I can prepare for my future career as a professional software developer. Having seen how much my brother’s life changed after joining Hack.Diversity, I feel very excited to be part of this incredible community for 2021.
