Week 8 — Graduation
I knew my last full week in New York City would wear me out, so I took Saturday to relax at home. Sunday was a lovely start to the week — I had visitors from Philadelphia! My friends Aliah and Clare took the bus up in the morning. We had a lot to catch up on, so we grabbed a table by the window at Variety Coffee Roasters and chatted for a few hours.


The overcast day was a nice escape from the heat we had been having, so we took the most of it by walking everywhere. We headed south to Union Square and ran into a street market. I bought a few cute dresses — one with sloths and one with foxes. Then we went into one of my favorite places: Strand Bookstore. We perused the different floors and looked at the fun postcards and art supplies.

We continued on our adventure heading back up north. There was an RV parked on the north side of Union Square Park that was being used as a traveling dog shelter, and of course we had to go in to look at all of the dogs. Almost all of them were already claimed as adopted which was sweet. These New Yorkers with dogs are very ambitious, dedicated people.
Next we popped into a very New York place — the Kellogg’s cereal store. You can customize a bowl of cereal and milk, hang out around cereal-themed art, play ping pong, or hang in a hammock in their windows. After that, we found ourselves wanting to share a bottle of wine and relax. We wandered into a Brooks Brothers, enticed by a $5 Happy Hour wine sign, and hung out in their basement bar area. It was super cozy, and the barista didn’t charge us for one of the glasses — who said New Yorkers weren’t nice?
We got dinner at one of my favorite places — Eataly. A huge store full of food direct from Italy. We ate homemade noodles at the bar and stuffed ourselves full. They headed out to catch their bus afterwards, and I headed home to prepare for my last week of teaching.


Monday was a great start to the week. I helped a few teams resolve some of their last remaining issues in their projects. No one was too stressed about the upcoming graduation. They all seemed excited to show off their work to their friends and family by Thursday. One of my students did my hair into a braid crown, so I had to show it off in public. After work, I headed to my favorite beer bar (As Is NYC) for the last time. I found a beer that will be added to my all-time favorites: Hudson Valley Holy Icon. I started reading The Shining, a book my friend gave me. I hate horror movies, but I’ve never read a horror book which I expect will be a very different experience.



Tuesday was the last day the girls were able to code on their projects. Everyone finished except for one team who was having issues adding a discussion board to their app. I told my student that I would help her find a solution tomorrow and to not worry about it too much.
That evening I did a bit more exploring in my neighborhood. I got a quesadilla from Los Viajeros for dinner, and walked down 9th Ave. I ran into a pop-up art show called “What’s Your Story?” It caught my eye because that’s the question my dad loves to ask people. They collect anonymous stories from people and had hundreds on display in the gallery.



On Wednesday morning I helped that student find a different solution for her message board, and it ended up being a lot easier! I told her that’s how programming goes: exploring solutions takes a lot of time and can be frustrating but most of the time you will find a way.
Most of the day was spent configuring their poster boards for graduation. Each time had to create a science fair-type board explaining their project, inspiration, and team. It was a fun day where they could be creative and hands-on. We played a lot of music. They also started writing their 1min pitches that would be given in front of the crowd of 60+ people at graduation.



After work, I met my roommate Jason for dinner at one of his favorite places in our neighborhood— Kung Fu Little Steamed Buns Ramen. I let him order and he did not disappoint on the choices. The soup dumplings were the bet I’ve had! Shout out to Emily and Nate for paying for our meal ;)
It was a quick dinner since Jason had to host a trivia night uptown. I made my way downtown to East Village to meet my best bro Jeff at our spot — Doc Holliday’s. What looks to a passerby as an old dive bar with junk plastered to the walls and ceiling holds a special place in our hearts. We shared a pitcher of beer, discussed life, and as we were heading out discovered something that made this place even more remarkable. Jeff told me to look at the ceiling. An OU Football banner was stapled right above the entryway. We had never noticed it before and it’s not like this was a sports bar — I couldn’t even find any other sports memorabilia in the entire place. It was a serendipitous sighting as we said goodbye (for now).



Thursday was the day we had all been looking forward to — GRADUATION DAY! It was a surreal feeling knowing the summer had come to an end. What started as a room of awkward strangers truly ended as a sisterhood.
The girls weren’t too happy about the curriculum that day. We had multiple activities revolving around public speaking. They were hesitant and uncomfortable, but each time they practiced they became more comfortable. We gave each other ‘glows’ and ‘grows’ to improve and compliment one another. I even practiced my welcome speech for them, which was not great initially and I stumbled and paused too many times.
Graduation was at 6pm. I gave a welcome speech summarizing what we accomplished this summer and talking about how important this experience was for them to gain confidence both as computer scientists and young women. A few MetLife executives spoke, and 3 students gave speeches about their experiences. One of them got the entire room crying!



Each project team gave their 1 minute pitch to the audience. Every student had to say something. They performed amazingly and I barely heard any ‘umms’ or filler phrases/sentences (‘stuff like that’, ‘okay’, ‘you know’). I gave them each their graduation certificate and then turned them loose to show off their projects at their booths.



Here are a few of the projects that my class completed. There are links to see the live project and see the code in Github on each of the project pages.
Diversity. Equality. Unity. — Empower women and educate people about women’s rights.
Someone Else’s Eyes — Experience a day in the life of someone struggling with a mental illness.
Bloo — Various curated playlists to fit your different moods.
Dr. Mend — Request diagnosis based on symptoms and read life advice.
Bompu — A website to help you find your inner zen.


The students surprised me and my teaching assistant with flowers and a really nice handwritten card during the ceremony. It was incredibly sweet and unexpected. All of the girls were very appreciative and special. A few people had asked me if I had a favorite student and I said no. I really didn’t — they were all so different and had unique qualities. Going into this program, I was worried about my ability to relate to New Yorkers as an Oklahoman. However, I think our differences allowed us to be stronger as a class. I did not see myself in any of my students, and therefore I did not have certain expectations or attachments. Our biggest dividing factor in the class was liking K-Pop (Korean pop music) or not.


I had fun chatting with the parents after the ceremony, which was my duty. A few did not speak English well, but pride emanated from their smiles and warmth. Most of them commented on the growth and confidence they noticed in their daughters. They were all so happy and impressed with how much their daughters had learned (Six programming languages!!!). One of my students is recovering from cancer, and her dad made me tear up when he told me how much this club had helped her recovery. Each girl really benefitted from learning to code.

I wrapped up my Thursday evening by heading uptown with my flowers, MetLife swag, and smile on my face. I met my roommate and his girlfriend at O’Flanagan’s on the Upper East Side. The place was closing for good and they were having their last night of live band karaoke. Lexi and I signed up to sing a duet of Loveshack. It was a busy night and after a few hours, I had to head home without getting to perform (sad). Nevertheless, it was entertaining to watch the regulars sing 80s songs to their significant others and give unwarranted speeches on the mic.
We had one last day in the MetLife building to say goodbye. We spent the day wrapping up — filling out surveys, cleaning out our computers, etc. We also took the time to write letters to everyone. We gave everyone a manila envelope to decorate and tape on the wall. I wrote a unique note to every girl and my TA, which was more exhausting than I thought it would be! The girls wrote me and the TA notes too. I am keeping my envelope sealed until I have a bad day and need something to cheer me up — I know reading those will do the trick.
MetLife had a few surprises for us too. They took us to their game room for a few hours and also set up a surprise party with music, cake, and an ice cream bar! The girls loved it and so did I!


It was hard to say goodbye, but I am excited to see where they all go. I’m happy with how the 7 weeks went and can’t state enough how proud I am of them. They really learned so much and made incredible projects. I wish that all girls had the chance to experience something like this at their age — something they can walk away from with the knowledge that they have created something real with a team. The knowledge that they are good (great, actually!) at Computer Science, something that many people in society want them to think they aren’t good at (looking at you, former Googler).
Coding isn’t a skill that inherently belongs to a select group of people. Like everything else, it requires practice, bravery, and resilience. What better place to train those muscles than in a group of people who will support you, laugh with you, and push you to be your best — a sisterhood.

Please stay tuned for one last blog post in my Lost in New York series! My last post will talk about my dad visiting, exploring the city with him, and road-tripping back to Oklahoma.

