I’m from Rafat in Salfeet, Palestine and I moved to Berlin for my dream job at Zalando. Here’s my story.

My name is Takwa and I’m 23-years old. I know that many people reading this might not understand the obstacles and challenges coming from a small village in Salfeet, Palestine. It’s rare for a young woman to travel alone to Europe to pursue a career. Actually, it’s not rare, it’s impossible. I’m sharing my story so that girls from my village and girls from a similar background to mine feel inspired to pursue their dreams.

How I Got Into Computer Science

When I was in high school, I was interested in science, but I was good at English and to my father, I was great. He encouraged me to keep studying English as I was already enrolled in a program with Amideast. He hoped this would help me find a job locally, and also because my sister went down that route and she found a job. Just to note, it’s really difficult to find a good job in Palestine, and there’s a high unemployment rate. The main reason I wanted to go into this field is that I enjoy math, I like challenges and after speaking to many people, they said it’s the future.

When I finished high school, my father brought home the registration for me to apply to study computer science. At university, I realized I made the right choice. It was a tough 4 years, but I never regretted any of it. What kept me motivated was dreaming of visiting new countries to see other cultures, people and to gain new experiences. In general, people always told me that to earn a good salary you have better opportunities abroad, so that was my goal.

During my last year at university, I traveled abroad for the first time with Erasmus in Belgium. I returned home when Covid-19 happened. I then finished university and got a job working at a local outsourcing company. Towards the end of 2020, I joined Manara, a program that prepares software engineers and CS students for their future at global tech companies. This is where the change happened.

Life at Manara

When I first joined I thought it would be so hard as a Palestinian to find a job abroad, but was still so enthusiastic, especially the first month. It was Iliana’s (Manara’s Co-founder) way of talking and how ambitious all the participants were. I felt like this is the community that I belong to — people like me looking for better opportunities. I was so afraid that if I stayed working with companies in Palestine, I would be there just for my salary. I wouldn’t be happy and wouldn’t have any ambition. These thoughts motivated me, however, I still had so many doubts about myself, my skills, and other factors that could prevent me from finding a job abroad. The biggest worry was if my family would even allow it?

So I made a plan. I had already talked to my family about Manara and my dad said that it’s a good opportunity as I’m able to do everything online. I know that my dad would never say no if I got a fantastic opportunity. I waited until I had an offer in my hand before discussing anything with him. When I told him about my offer with Zalando in Berlin, he said “go for it”! It’s been 7 months and I absolutely love it! My life has changed, and that’s a good thing.

A Time of Growth

I wasn’t used to keeping up with the communication required at Manara. The Slack channels and the follow-ups would distract me from what I thought I needed to concentrate on, which was solving more data structures and algorithm questions. Eventually, I got used to it, even good at communication and this has stuck with me even now. If you just trust the process, you’ll find your way.

60% of what changed me and where I saw the most improvement was from the mock interviews. These are interviews that simulate what it’s like to interview for a big tech company. I think I did the most of any participant. I failed so many and I would keep asking for more so I could practice the areas in which I was failing. I was getting rejected and was feeling like I would never pass. I kept discovering weaknesses and would do another mock and would find another weakness. Then I had 7 real interviews for two companies and had offers from both! I had prepared myself for every possible scenario! I probably did around 50 mock interviews. I sometimes had 2–3 mock interviews in one day. I was obsessed.

Why Mentors Matter

My favorite part of Manara was getting to work with my two mentors. I had Mohammed who works at Google and Sami who’s an MIT alum who works at Meta. These two were always bringing me up whenever I felt down. They were cheering for me every step of the way. Sami was always trying to give me a plan to stick to become more goal orientated. After meeting with my mentors, I always had a shift in my mood. I felt like I could do anything — it was so motivational. You can be vulnerable with them in terms of your technical skills. It’s easy to show your weaknesses to your mentors as you need them to help you improve. It’s almost like going to a therapist for technical problems. I am still in contact with them to this day, and I really look forward to becoming a mentor one day.

How I’ve Changed

Before Manara, I was really great at procrastinating. After Manara and until now, when I have something to do, I just do it and I no longer feel that I’m constantly questioning myself. 90% of what influenced me to change was being surrounded by a really amazing community. After Manara, I felt like I was a better version of myself. Now I always think — before Manara I didn’t know how to do data structures — I was afraid to do a loop over an array. After Manara, I’ve solved over 500 questions. I relate my not knowing how to cook to data structures — just try it. The inner talk between me and myself always comes back to data structures. I know the process of failing over and over and then mastering something. I learned so much in just 6 months at Manara — life skills that I am applying daily.

This Bigger Picture

I’m always thinking about this — what is the long-term effect? If I leave my country to work, when I eventually return, I am bringing money back to support the economy. This is great, but what matters the most to me is that I know how much of a challenge it is for girls to leave. You really don’t understand how big of a deal it is to travel — in the bigger cities you might see this more, but in the smaller communities, society will speak badly about a girl who travels as we’re a conservative culture.

I’m the first girl in my village to travel abroad alone. People ask my parents all the time how and why they let me go? Aren’t they afraid? The bigger picture is that some parents are open to allowing their daughters, but they’re afraid to take the first step. But when someone else has already taken the first step and they see the positive outcome, they may not fall into the pressures of society. These parents might give their daughters the same opportunity after seeing me. It’s important for me to be a good example to the girls in my village. In the long term, I hope girls will have more options. These are the things I care about the most.

I’m 23 and for 22 years I was living with my family. One year alone, and I have already seen how much I’ve grown. It’s an experience I think everyone should go through. I’m so grateful for everyone who has helped me get to where I am today.