I wanted to share a true short story about my past.
A young (high school) Annie waits for the bell to ring after her Word Perfect typing class. She thinks her computer teacher is so awesome and brilliant because her teacher gets to teach and work on computers.
Annie shyly asks her female teacher, “Can I learn programming? I don’t want to take typing classes. I want to learn how to make games and things to play on the computer.” (Annie loves Oregon Trail, Wheel of Fortune, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego).
Her teacher replies, “Programming is very hard. It’s not for girls. You have to be really good in math and be really smart. You can be a secretary if you really enjoy working with computers.”
Devastated by her teacher’s answer, a sad Annie walks away and scratches the thought of being a programmer off her list of aspiring dreams. … Hmm, a Secretary?
Flash foward years later ….
Today I am a web developer. And sadly enough, I wish there were MORE female developers. My struggle to become a web developer is probably like many other stories of others out there. I had an interest, but someone else shot me down and told me I wasn’t worthy. Well, as a young girl I was naive and I believed most things adults told me. In my culture, I was taught to not question my elders and to be obedient. I struggled as a teen (like many do) to figure out what I wanted to do in life.
Thanks to the encouragement of my friends and family, I was able to pursue my dream of becoming a web developer. It was a really hard and difficult challenge. I’ve come so far in my journey and it’s given me a sense of pride of achieving a goal I didn’t think was possible.
I believe that everyone deserves a chance to learn. I’ve made many mistakes over the course of my lifetime and from that, I was able to grow as a person. In the words of a wise quote, “The light at the end of the tunnel is not an illusion. The tunnel is.”
Never lose sight of your dreams.