Participant story: Linda (she/her)
“I admire the creativity and flexibility of software engineering — it encourages me to innovate, collaborate, and take initiative.”
1) Tell us a little about your life.
I am a first-generation Chinese American born and raised in Los Angeles, California. Growing up, I was highly motivated to excel in my studies in order to respect and repay my parents for their sacrifices. In my undergraduate studies, I majored in computational biology with a focus in neurosystems and minored in Asian languages. I am always driven to improve myself, meet the expectations of myself, my family, and my peers, and most of all, make my parents proud.
2) What made you decide to pursue a software engineering career and apply for Techtonica?
I admire the creativity and flexibility of software engineering — it encourages me to innovate, collaborate, and take initiative. I believe that a career in software engineering is one of the best environments to grow and challenge yourself, especially as a woman and a person of color.
Techtonica offers accessibility and support for people like myself who are underrepresented and desire to break into tech. Upon speaking to staff, volunteers, and other Techtonica participants, I grew to appreciate the program and the tech industry as a whole even more because of the community and the mission to be inclusive of everyone.
3) What are you most excited to learn while at Techtonica?
While I am always eager to learn more about programming and software engineering, I am honestly most excited to learn about soft skills and working in a group. I’ve coded alone for some time, and the thought of being able to openly share and discuss the different ways to go about a problem motivates me. As for the soft skills, I haven’t had much practice in a professional setting and believe that one of the keys to being content within your career is to foster a safe and welcoming work environment. I hope to be able to learn how to be a better worker and leader.
4) What do you want to contribute to or change about the tech industry?
I would like to increase the ease of access to the tech industry. Personally, the fact that the industry is predominantly white men is quite intimidating. I would love to volunteer or mentor in programs such as Techtonica in order to make this possible! I think it is also important to do outreach to middle schools and high schools so that younger generations are more aware that tech is an option.
5) What’s your dream project?
I think that a project that incorporated programming and mental health awareness would be amazing. I have always looked into AI therapy and thought that this would be a great alternative to people who are hesitant to reach out. Another project I would love to work on would be related to learning languages and finding words that are similar in different languages to make learning one or the other easier.
