MEET OUR WITTY WOMEN: ANGELA

This past academic year, we worked with a cohort of 7 female-identifying students to develop a technical solution for the non-profit organization YearUp! We are so proud of our first cohort and all the work they accomplished, and for the next few weeks, we’ll be featuring these amazing students here on our blog.

This week we are featuring 20-year-old Angela Zhang. Angela is a rising Junior at Columbia University Computer Science. She’s our fifth witty woman to be featured, and we are so excited for you to learn a little bit about her through this post.

Why did you join the wit project? 

I initially joined the wit project after speaking with my Built By Girls Wave program mentor, Shylee. In our first meeting, I had expressed the desire to expand my knowledge of coding beyond the classroom. I understood homework assignments and class projects, but still felt as if I didn't know a single thing about what it was like to be a software developer in the real world. I also loved the idea of being able to build an entire web application alongside other college-aged female technologists who would be able to learn together and empower each other along the way.

What has been your favorite part about the volunteership experience? What have you learned from the wit project? 

I'm being completely honest when I say that it's so hard for me to pick what my favorite part of this experience has been. Participating in the wit project has definitely been the most important thing that I have done as a computer science student. Not only have I gained so much experience with technologies I always thought were too "inaccessible" for me to learn, but I have also gained an incredible amount of confidence as a computer scientist and developer. Something else I'm incredibly grateful for is the amazing community that we have built-in this cohort. I came into this group a couple of weeks after the program had formally started, but immediately became so comfortable with all of the other girls. We've all made it our goal to finally meet up in person once I return to NY for school :)

Why is it important to have more women working in tech? 

I distinctly remember being sat down by a family member who discouraged me from pursuing a career in STEM simply because it would be harder for me to succeed as a woman. Having been involved in robotics as a teenager, I always noticed the lack of female technical mentors, and how the girls on the team tended to gravitate away from technical roles because of a lack of support. There is something wrong with the fact that tech is still a predominantly male-populated field- a narrative which still exists because of a comparative lack of female role models in tech. Even though there has been a big improvement in the number of women involved with tech in the last couple of years, social inequality in the workplace is also something that so many female professionals experience and deal with. This is why I believe that it is so important to have more women working in tech- it's time to start normalizing having females speak up and be leaders when it comes to tech.

What are your goals for the next year? Where do you want to be in 5 years? 

My goal for the next year is to continue learning as much as I can about CS and the culture surrounding software development. There are so many technologies and languages that I feel confident enough to start learning now and I can't wait to keep building. I also want to learn more about the variety of different roles that are available to me as a computer science student, so I definitely will spend the next year trying out as many roles as I can until I find the one that best suits me. In 5 years I of course hope to have found my place in tech and to be working a job which will allow me to keep learning and exploring all the new possibilities that I'm sure I will have discovered by then. More importantly, however, I hope to be in a position where I feel like I can give back to the community of women who have helped build my confidence by helping other young women become confident in themselves.

Who’s a #badass technologist you look up to?

One #badass technologist I look up to is Lyndsey Scott, whom I first came across in a YouTube video by BBC News. She not only works as an iOS app developer but has also worked in the modeling industry. I absolutely love that she breaks stereotypes about female programmers and the fact that she didn't limit herself to pursuing a career in just one industry. She has been incredibly successful in both programming and modeling and continues to make an impact on young women who might have people tell them that they can't be successful if they choose to split their time between traditionally unrelated career paths.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

Although I have never seriously ice skated a day in my life (grasping onto the wall of the ice rink at the mall definitely doesn't count), I follow the sport closely and consider myself an avid fan! I also love making music and have played the harp for the past 8 years.