DEV Community: Maribel Duran

I am officially a Senior Software Engineer!

Maribel Duran — Wed, 07 Sep 2022 14:44:00 +0000

I am officially a Senior Software Engineer!

Wanted to share this event with my Dev.To friends so here’s my LinkedIn post:

When I told my mom the news, she said [in Spanish]: “I will never be able to understand what you do for a living, but I am so proud and happy for you.” She never finished middle school, but with her continued motivation and support, she helped me graduate college. Being a first generation college graduate, getting this promotion is a big milestone for my family and I.

Thank you all so much for motivating me and cheering me on. Special shout out to those who have presented opportunities that have helped me thrive over these past 3.5 years as a software engineer:

Ben Jones and the Worklete engineering team who treated me like a senior engineer since day one.
Quincy Larson and all the members of freeCodeCamp for providing a community I can rely on.
My PMs, Jenny Ma, Gianna Sen-Gupta, Justin Saeian for hyping me up and making me feel like a rockstar.
Wyatt Peterson, Gonen Shoham, Chris Steele for guiding me to this next level at NerdWallet.
My college friends Kevin Liu and Kirsten Armstrong for always looking out for me.
My soon to be husband Nathan Kwan for providing me with unconditional love and support.

I am still in awe of how far I’ve come. It’s been quite a journey and this is just the beginning.

I was once just starting off.
I was once building my first web application.
I was once hoping to land my first software engineering role.

I will continue lifting others up as I advance in my career.

“Lift as You Climb”

How one blog post led me to collaborate with amazing communities

Maribel Duran — Thu, 25 Jun 2020 13:28:40 +0000

"Life is a gift, and it offers us the privilege, opportunity, and responsibility to give something back by becoming more."- Anthony Robbins

I am writing this because I want to encourage others to share their stories.

Writing about how I landed my first software engineer role opened up many opportunities. Opportunities that led me to motivate and mentor others by collaborating with amazing organizations.

I worked with universities and communities that are helping first generation college students, bridging the gender gap in tech, and making mentorship accessible to all. For the first time, I was interviewed by a podcast, gave a meetup talk, was a panelist, and became a mentor.

We could be teaching ourselves a new skill or interviewing for a new job. I think we all have something valuable to share in whatever stage we are in our careers.

Quick Background

I landed my first software engineer role at a small mission driven startup end of 2018. We were about to rebuild the entire platform. I was working hard, taking ownership of projects, building features that were critical to the infrastructure, and making big technical decisions.

Even through the 4 hour daily commute, learning everything that comes with being a “fullstack” engineer, working at a startup for the first time, and working weekends, I found ways to continue staying active and giving back to the tech community.

I made the extra effort to work on things outside of work that would help others.

Writing That Blog Post That Opened Up More Opportunities

My first goal right after landing my software engineer role was to write a blog post. I wanted it to motivate others to not give up on their dreams of becoming a developer.

I didn't think I was going to have enough energy to finish it. I would get home too exhausted from work. The days when I did have the extra energy I would jump back to writing more. Glad I pushed through.

My journey from first generation college grad to Software Engineer was published on freeCodeCamp’s old Medium publication and has received over 3.3K reads.

Organizations and Communities Who Want To Help Others Get Into Tech

Universities and podcasts reached out to me after having read my blog post and asked if I could share more with students and professionals that were trying to get into tech. This led me to work with and join communities that are trying to help marginalized genders and make mentorship accessible to all.

I encourage you check the following organizations out.

CodePrep.io

I was interviewed by CodePrep.io, a podcast that shows people how to get into tech. I shared about my experience with imposter syndrome and how I used freeCodeCamp to improve my chances of getting a developer position.

University of California, Merced

I was an alumni panelist at UC Merced, a university where 72% of the undergraduate students are first generation, like myself. It's also the #1 public university for financial aid given to first-year students. I shared my post graduation career journey and the struggles that came along with the successes.

Write/Speak/Code

I gave my first meetup talk at Write/Speak/Code, a community that is on a mission to promote the visibility and leadership of technologists with marginalized genders through peer-led professional development.

Autonomous University of Barcelona

I was interviewed by the Autonomous University of Barcelona, a university that is encouraging more females to study and stay in STEM fields. I shared my experiences with being a women in tech and how they can prepare for this industry.

CodingCoach.io

I became a mentor for CodingCoach.io, an open-source platform which aims to connect software developers and mentors all over the world at no cost. Being reached out to by students to mentor them after having read my blog post motivated me to find a community that helps ease the mentorship process.

I am beyond grateful to have been able to contribute to these organizations and give back by motivating students and professionals.

What’s Next?

My goal is to continue sharing my stories, mentoring, and speaking as I advance in my career.

I was once just starting off.
I was once terrified of public speaking.
I was once working at an unfulfilling job.
I was once building my first simple web app.
I was once hoping for my first dev role opportunity.

Now I have found a career that allows me to help others directly and through the products I am contributing to.

It will be another year of lifting others up.
Just as we all have something to learn, we all have something to teach.

Let's be friends on twitter 😀

How I Stay Healthy While Working From Home

Maribel Duran — Tue, 31 Mar 2020 05:19:14 +0000

"Do what you can, with what you have, where you are." - Theodore Roosevelt

Some of us are working from home during this global pandemic. Going through a time where we are trying to stay productive and healthy all while facing uncertainties and new realities.

I hope my work from home routine and tips will help others who are still getting used to working from home. I hope you are all staying safe and healthy 💫

Routine

1) Wake up and stretch
2) Drink coffee and have breakfast
3) Meditate - I use the InsighTimer app
4) Work on a personal project
5) Start work
6) Take short breaks throughout the day - to reduce eye fatigue
7) Have lunch - Try not to eat at my desk
8) Finish work
9) Go for a walk - Listen to a podcast
10) Have dinner
11) Workout - I started the 100DaysOfFitness challenge to keep me accountable
12) Read
13) Write down 5 things I'm grateful for

This routine helps me stay healthy, happy, and fulfilled. I try to follow it as much as possible and when I don't, I'm okay with it. Tomorrow is a new day.

Rules That I Try To Follow

No news while working
Snack on fruits, not candy
Drink green tea in the afternoon instead of coffee
If I’m really tired, take a short 15 minute nap in the afternoon
Stand most of the day

Random Things I Do During Work Breaks

Jumping jacks
Chase my dog around the house
Do laundry

Taking Time to Recharge

These past few weekends I have been resting and recharging. As much as I want to be extra productive now that we have more time at home, I remind myself that these times are not ordinary. We are living through a global pandemic full of uncertainties with every day news updates about people being laid off or getting sick. So it is okay to take time off when needed. Our health comes first.

It took me a whole week to adjust, acknowledge, and continue working towards finding a good routine for me.

Setting Up a Desk Space

No more slouching or staring at small screens 🤗.

I finally completed setting up my desk space. It has been a work in progress for about two years now and it has made a big difference. I have a standing desk, monitor, external keyboard and mouse, laptop stand, and salt lamp.

Let’s Make Working From Home an Exciting Time

We can use our extra time exploring things we have always wanted to try or didn't have time for. We can meditate, do yoga, cook, read, or chat more with our loved ones.

May you be safe. May you be happy. May you be healthy. May you live at ease.

Again, I hope you are all staying safe and healthy during these times 💫

Let’s be friends on Twitter

Thank You Medium, It's Time For Me to Fly and Build My Own Blog

Maribel Duran — Fri, 24 Jan 2020 15:15:18 +0000

“Start writing, no matter what. The water does not flow until the faucet is turned on.” — Louis L’Amour

Hello Dev.to community! This is officially my first blog post on this platform. So happy to be here.

I want to share why I have finally decided to build my own blog.

Over the last few years I have been writing about my software development journey on Medium. A few of my blogs have even been published on FreeCodeCamp's Medium publication. By sharing my experiences I have motivated others to contribute to open source, use awesome technologies like Gatsby, and move forward with their career journeys. This is why I write. So others can become inspired to reach for their dreams and do things they thought they couldn't do.

For a while, I was in conflict between wanting to reach a wider audience and owning my own content. I've realized that we can have both.

Motivation to Move Away from Medium

Everything was going well on Medium until I started seeing banners like these.

Wait what? 0 stories remaining on my free member preview for the month? Medium used to be free and more delightful. Less banners. Less popups. Less clunk.

Things change and that's okay! Thanks to Medium, I started writing blogs. It was my gateway to writing for people on the web. This was my motivation to start thinking about hosting my own blog.

To Host or Not To Host

I kept going back and forth on where I wanted to continue publishing my writing. Should I publish on Dev.to or FreeCodeCamp? Should I continue publishing on Medium because I have the largest audience there? Should I host my blogs on my personal website and cross publish to all of these platforms?

After discovering amazing tools like Gatsby and Netlify that make building a blog site a delight for developers, I found more reasons to build my own blog. And finally after attending my first JamStack conference, I was motivated by the talks to take control over my content.

What I Will Be Sharing on Dev.to

While I'm in the process of rebuilding my website that will hold my blog, I have other side projects I'm working on that I want to share along the way. I am currently doing 100DaysOfSoftwareDevelopment and going through the technical interview process and want to be able to share what I can without letting my website rebuild hold me back. I have found that as a woman in tech, I have a big influence and impact in writing about career development and tech so for now, this will be my focus.

Why You Should Also Start Thinking About Building Your Own Blog

One day Twitter, Medium, and the rest of the social networks might be gone. Along with our content. The content that we’ve put so much energy into and one day might want to look back on. I want to have full control over my content and share it across other platforms to reach a wider audience and inspire many. Own your content and have fun along the way by learning new technologies like the JamStack 😀.

If you want some motivation, I recommend Zach Leatherman's (Creator of Eleventy) Jamstack Conf talk: Own your content on Social Media using the IndieWeb. I think it's pretty funny and insightful.

Looking Forward To Making a Positive Impact in This Community

Share your experiences, perspectives, and values gained with others because you never know how you might impact someone’s life. Never in a million years did I think my writing would inspire others.

Just as we all have something to learn, we all have something to teach.

"Get it down. Take chances. It may be bad, but it's the only way you can do anything really good." — William Faulkner

Let’s be friends on Twitter. Happy Coding 😀 Oh and Happy #JAMuary