Nevertheless, DEV's rejection gave me the push to pursue Software Engineering and I am still coding.

KLGF (she/her) — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 03:30:19 +0000

Fall 2018, I applied for DEV's Community Coordinator position. As hyped and excited I was to get this job, I was sadly not selected for the role. However, I wanted to share my story of why rejection only means you aren't aiming high enough.

Story

At a young age of 8, I wanted to be a Computer Programmer. That was when my grandmother found and handed me this gigantic book on Computer Programming by Microsoft. I didn't know jack sh*t what it was, but I had a feeling this was what I wanted to be in the future. My mom supported this and even suggested I should pursue it too. I remembered when my classmates would ask what a Computer Programmer was when we had to share what we wanted to be when we grow older. All I know as my mom would say, "it's the future."

After high school I enrolled in my local community college majoring in Computer Science. The first class was intro to programming, learning C++.
I remember walking in that classroom and it was a sausage fest, there were only 2 females myself included.
The course was difficult and to be honest I felt intimidated due to the lack of support and overall low self-esteem I had at the time. I also dated a guy who told me that, "Women aren't ought to be engineers and are better suited as marketers or publicists." That very moment I gave up my dream of becoming a Computer Programmer.

Fast forward, I graduated in Communication Studies and worked many marketing internships. I was good at what I did, but I always felt marketing was pure BS. There was no challenge and for a while I felt unhappy. That was when I found DEV's job posting, I felt my dream and aspirations for software development beamed inside me. This gave me a chance to share my lost story with the team. During the interviews I couldn't stop talking about my passion for programming. It was clear that I still wanted to be a programmer.

When DEV sent me the rejection email, they included that they wanted to know the progress of my programming journey. Soon after that, I signed into a coding bootcamp and after 1.5 years I graduated in late 2020. I could have not be any happier, who knew coding could be so empowering.

Wrapping Up

You have to view rejection as a reflection of how big you're dreaming and how high you're aiming. Rejection is a mechanism for feedback. It made me realize what I was missing in my life. I am happy that the DEV team believed in me and my potential, they encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I will be forever thankful.
To all women out there, don't hold back from pursuing your dreams even if you are years late you can make it happen.

My biggest goal (right now)

Completing the entire book on
How to Design Programs

My biggest goal (future)

We need more cultural diversity in tech, more women of color.
I want to be that voice, especially for first generation Americans who come from immigrant families.

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DEV Community: KLGF (she/her)

Nevertheless, DEV's rejection gave me the push to pursue Software Engineering and I am still coding.

Story

Wrapping Up

My biggest goal (right now)

My biggest goal (future)