Final Reflection
I am really proud to have been part of the Mission Techies summer program of 2015. This experience was incredible in many ways. I learned a great deal that has prepared me for the tech industry. Being part of the mission techies I experienced a lot firsts.
This was the first time that I ever opened a computer or laptop and put it back together. If a year ago someone asked me to open and identify components from their computer, I would have been too scared to even consider it. But today, I can. I can identify the CPU (computer processing unit), the RAM (random access memory), the motherboard and I can put it all back perfectly. I can do this because I was a Mission Techie.
This was also this first time I wrote lines of code, “Hello World”. I remember the feeling of running that first code and seeing the words appear in green letter. It felt fantastic. Before the techies program I saw coding as a skill that only super smart math geniuses could compute. But I was able to do it because I was a Mission Techie.
We didn’t just learn about the technicalities/smarts of being a techie, we also explored what the tech industry was like. Our career development classes with Olivia prepared us to enter the tech industry. Everything from writing our elevator pitches to making our LinkedIn profiles.
One of the most important thing that I gained this summer from being a Mission Techie was confidence. Confidence in myself for pursuing a degree in the tech industry. Confidence in being a women in the tech industry. Confidence in being a person of color in tech. The environment of the mission techies program was open and diverse. We had the privilege of having so many incredible speakers of all backgrounds come and share their stories and experiences with us. We also were lucky to have the CEO of Jones IT teach us about networking.
We also did a lot of fun site visits. My favorite one was going to the Facebook headquarters in Menlo Park. They set up a panel where some of the Facebook employees shared their experiences on how they became a part of the Facebook team. We also did a site visit to Year Up. That was really inspiring to see all the stories of the past Year Up graduates.
I am so grateful that I got to be a part of the MEDA Mission Techies. Not only did I gain so much knowledge about the tech industry, I also gained confidence that I want a career in the tech industry and that I am capable of that. Plus these past six weeks as a mission techie have been so much fun getting to hang out with the other techies and learning from one another. So thank you for everything.
-Izza Anwar
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