10 Questions with Gracie Young
Senior at Stanford University
Gracie Young is a senior studying Computer Science at Stanford University. She loves making things, from mobile apps and robots to floor rugs crocheted from recycled tech t-shirts. At school, she co-led Women in Computer Science, managed the Stanford Powwow website, and served as a Teaching Assistant for the Android development class. She’s had the opportunity to intern at Google, Qualcomm, and the US Navy.
1. When did you know you wanted to be in tech?
During my first year of college, I really enjoyed my introductory computer science classes. But it wasn’t until my first hackathon, PearlHacks 2015 that I began to envision myself in the tech industry. I had no idea what a hackathon was, but I had imagined it was an event where unbathed tech bros coded through the night on scary levels of caffeine. But PearlHacks was delightfully different! It was an all female-identifying hackathon, almost everyone slept, and the bathrooms were stocked with toiletries. I found a team of two other women, and together we built a website — my first — that let people post and claim lost/found items. At the end of the hackathon, as I looked around at the other participants and admired their finished products, I felt included in the maker community and inspired to be in tech. After PearlHacks, I’ve continued to attend hackathons and play with new technologies and ideas that keep me excited about the industry.
2. Who’s someone in your life you looked up to when you were younger?
Saura Naderi, who started the Thinkabit Lab at Qualcomm. Before that, she ran a lab at UCSD that taught young girls how to make fun robotic hats! Her lab was filled with resistors and LEDs and covered with glitter and patterned felt. She taught me how to code and solder for engineering projects through BEWiSE. But more importantly, she showed me that engineering is fun and gives you the tools to make amazing and creative things. When I interned at Qualcomm, I was able to make my own robotic hat at the Thinkabit Lab. My hat blew bubbles out of a foam sand castle, and I wore it on an intern trip to the Del Mar horse races.
3. Where’s your hometown?
San Diego! I was lucky enough to be in a city that had science programs focused on bringing more women into STEM. I applied to join Better Education for Women in Science and Engineering (BEWiSE) in 7th grade, and I still remember writing my application essay about the history of velcro. Through BEWiSE, I toured biotech labs, built robots, extracted banana DNA, and met female peers and mentors from 7th-12th grade. The program opened my eyes to careers in STEM that I didn’t know were possible and introduced me to lifelong science friends and mentors. Because I benefited from STEM mentorship as a young girl, I’m always looking for ways to give back and mentor others through organizations like Women in Computer Science at school to penpal outreach programs beyond campus.
4. Can you tell me about a time you faced a struggle?
In my sophomore year, I felt disconnected from the tech world. Office hours for my computer science classes ran until midnight, which kept me up at odd hours and away from my friends. Although it was fascinating to learn how a computer works at lower levels, I felt like the computer science assignments weren’t as creative and often lonely. I needed a different outlet for creativity. Outside of class, I started crocheting recycled tech t-shirts together into a rug and created collages of tech slogans mixed with photos of my friends, trying to make my interaction with the tech world feel more creative. But I still felt like an imposter.
However, my junior year, I took my first human computer interaction (HCI) class. My group worked on an app that let users contribute artwork to collaborative stories, kind of like comic strips. I felt like we had created something that people might use, and it was motivating to implement our features into a workable app. The project-based work in my HCI classes has taught me how to collaborate and communicate with other engineers while working on fascinating projects — like creating a web-app to help citizens monitor their representatives in congress, a data visualization highlighting states with successful SNAP and farmers market programs, and an interactive exploration that lets young students learn about base-10 or base-2. Although my dad makes fun of me for pointing out “user interface” flaws with the family toaster, I’ve felt more at home. Next year, I’m happy to say I’m starting my masters in computer science with a focus in human computer interaction.
5. Can you tell me about something you did you are immensely proud of?Corey Ashley and I published Diné Adóone’é on the Google Play Store! Sophomore year, Corey asked me if I wanted to work on an Android app that he and Oliver Bear Don’t Walk IV had worked on in the Navajo Language class. The app tells Diné people how they are related from their clans. I updated the user interface of the app, applying the design principles I learned in my intro HCI class. I changed the input for the clans to be dropdown menus, making it easier to enter clans without a Navajo language keyboard installed.
One feature Corey and I felt was really important to include is a sharing feature. We wanted to create an image that would have each user’s name and their relation to each other which could be shared in an email or social media. The app draws each card, repositioning the names and relations to fit in the square space with the app’s logo. I am truly proud of the work we’ve done on the app. Not only is it my first time publishing to the Google Play Store, but this is also a project that combines language revitalization and tech.
6. What’s something that’s been on your mind a lot lately?
I have been thinking a lot about language revitalization and how tech can be used in the process. How can tech help students engage with endangered languages beyond preserving words in a database? Next quarter, my friend Constance Owl and I are teaching a class and planning a trip focused on language revitalization and the role of tech through the Alternative Spring Break program. Our class and trip will be exploring these questions with our 12 students.
I’m also working on my senior project next quarter. I’ll be creating an interactive story book in the Cherokee language for K-2nd graders at the New Kituwah Academy, one of the Cherokee language immersion schools, and for second-language learners. Each page of the book will have interactive elements an audio directions for students to practice hearing the language. It will also have written Cherokee language at the bottom which will have an English translation option as well.
7. Favorite food?
Does earl grey tea count?
8. Mac or PC?
PC! Bash on Ubuntu on Windows 10 has helped me lots.
9. If you could try another job for a day, what would it be?
Naming paint colors for Behr or Sherwin-Williams.
10. If you could give your 18-year-old self a piece of advice, what would it be?
Be confident in your ability to learn and grow.
