Participant Story: Isabelle
Isabelle is one of the participants of our six-month software engineering program! She sat down with Techtonica volunteer Mel Burke to share her story. You can support her journey at techtonica.org/donate.
Tell us a little about where you’re from and where you grew up.
I was born and raised in Hong Kong. I moved to this country on my own when I was 18 for high school. I spent the first year in Wewahitchka, Florida and later moved to California for college. I graduated from UC Berkeley with a B.A. degree in Political Economy in 2012.
What made you decide to apply for Techtonica?
Before Techtonica, I was a local journalist for a Chinese-language newspaper. I spent the past 5 years of my career writing about social and political injustices for Chinese immigrants.
I fell in love with coding in early 2018 after taking an online programming course. Learning how to code has been a very empowering experience for me. I love how it allows me to express my creativity and utilize my logic to create attractive and amazing user experiences.
Living in San Francisco, the tech capital of the world, I have seen how powerful technology can be. Learning how to code has made me realized that I can be more than just a voice for the social problems that I had been writing about — I can be try to be part of the solution.
Since then, I have decided that I want to transition into software engineering, where I can use my knowledge to create innovative solutions for common problems that are faced by my community.
After teaching myself programming for half a year, I was looking to get into a coding bootcamp to take my learning to the next level. That’s when the cruel reality hits. Being a low-income adult in San Francisco, the $18,000 price tag for a traditional coding bootcamp feels like an astronomical number for me. After learning about Techtonica’s mission, which is to help low-income women and non-binary adults to get a foot in the tech industry, I feel like this is where I belong.
What are you most excited to learn while in the program?
I’m super excited about building my first full-stack web app. I have only worked with client-side technology, so I’m very curious to see how it all works together. Other than the technical aspect of the program, I’m also super excited to get to know the tech industry intimately and learn about different innovations that are happening within it.
Is there anything you want to change about the tech industry specifically?
I want more people to learn and be more aware of what programming really is! For me, the tech industry is like a neighbor that I never got to meet. Living in San Francisco, even though we are constantly being surrounded by engineers, much of their work seem like a mystery for outsiders.
I remember when I first started to learn programming. I was shocked at how fun it is. I feel like there are still a lot of stereotypes surrounding computer programming. I am glad to see that there are a lot of programs being started to introduce people to programming. In the future I would love to get involved in that movement as well.
What’s your dream project?
I am very passionate about using technology for social good. My dream project would be one that can improve the living conditions of people in my community. Being a low-income immigrant, I know first-hand how difficult and limited life can be, especially when your family is thousands of miles away. The only person you can rely on is yourself. I am currently brainstorming a project that could help recent immigrants find services to help their transition in their community easier.
You can see Isabelle tell her story at our launch celebration here.
If you or your company might be interested in supporting program participants like Isabelle, please donate at techtonica.org/donate or take a look at techtonica.org/sponsor.
