In July 2022 I received a message on LinkedIn from someone who was not a connection of mine, or even a connection of a connection. He said he found my profile through the Cal State San Marcos alumni page and was wondering if I would be interested in speaking on the San Diego State University Careers in Sciences Panel for Computer Science in October 2022. Excited and interested, but skeptical, I responded asking for more information in the hopes that that was real and not some sort of scam. I am not a Cal State San Marcos alumnus, I have never even applied or attended a Cal State school, and I would say I have barely had a career in computer science. Why did I look like a good candidate for this panel?
While waiting on his response, I some quick research and found out that this person that messaged me did work for SDSU. OK, so not a scam, but why me?
When he responded, I learned a few reasons why they saw me as a good candidate: I live and have worked in San Diego County, I identify as female, and I have had multiple internships, two of which were with Northrop Grumman, a huge donator to the Engineering department at SDSU and a vocal supporter of women in computer science.
This was the opportunity of a lifetime for me – I love talking about my journey in Computer Science. Up until finding the OSU post-bacc program, I was surrounded by software engineers that have been coding since they were five years old, or who followed the standard path of completing their first bachelor’s degree and immediately hopping into their software engineering career at 22. Here I was, completing an associate’s degree and a second bachelor’s degree at (nearly) 27 to be where my friends were at when they were 22. Don’t get me wrong, I have been very lucky in that almost all of these people have been supportive and excited that I decided to follow this path. But when I started, I couldn’t have felt more alone. Most of the professors and older engineers that I spoke to couldn’t relate to my situation at all, and the advice that they gave, while I appreciated every piece of it, wasn’t always relevant.
I have always felt like it was important to tell my story. If I feel like this – like my path is abnormal and that no one has had a similar experience – there is no way I am alone in that. And by being on this panel, and talking to students anywhere from freshman to senior, I can share that with people who may feel the same way, or maybe feel like they have chosen the wrong path.
I think my story is important to share for two reasons:
- If you’ve already started, finishing your (first) bachelor’s degree is the most important step, whether it’s what you want to do for the rest of your life or not.
- You can start doing what you want later than 18. You’re not falling behind or failing in computer science just because you haven’t been coding since you were a kid or started when you were 22.
And I hope that there will be more opportunities for me to share my story in the future.
