Blog Post #2 Spring:
My identity has definitely influenced my educational journey and mindset. I definitely had more privilege growing up as a white woman, with 2 parents who were college graduates, and a father in STEM. Other than being a woman, the odds were definitely not stacked against me. However, I did grow up struggling badly in math, and I always told myself I would never be in a career that required math. Even 10 years ago, I never would have expected to be pursuing a career in computer science. My parents have always been encouraging of me going into a STEM career, but I actually always thought I would go into biology (which does have a strong female presence). They never really suggested careers I should go into, but that I should do whatever would make me successful. My dad especially sees college as a must. I mentioned that I had a parent in STEM, and that parent would be my dad. He's been a computer programmer (now called a software engineer) since the 80's. In addition to him, I ha...