MEET OUR WITTY WOMEN: JAZMINE

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 18-year-old Jazmine Freund. Jazmine is a rising sophomore at Baruch College where she’s studying mathematics. She’s our sixth 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 had just started my Freshman year of college and I was freaking out about getting an internship and filling up my resume when I saw the wit project in an email. It looked like an amazing opportunity where I would not only learn but also have the opportunity to help a nonprofit organization.

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

My favorite part was getting to know the team. Not only was is amazing to work with the women on my team but also the people at the nonprofit organization. Their team was great and it was a really great experience getting to work with the client directly. I have learned so much from my experience with the wit project. There were many technical things that I learned but also that if I do not know something to just look it up. From this experience, I was able to give multiple demos and learn how to talk about my work.

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

Young girls deserve to have someone to look up to if they want to go into tech. There is not a lot of women in tech not because they are not capable but because they are more likely steered away from STEM and computer science from people around them. If there were more women in tech it would not be as intimidating to women trying to get into the field.

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

I am not sure what I was to do in the next year besides getting an internship but considering everything that is going on things are still uncertain. I am also unsure where exactly I want to be in 5 years but I think I want to be working. I aim to be a Software Engineer who may be working in a different city or a different country.

Who’s a #badass technologist you look up to? Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

Someone I look up to is Jennifer Arguello, she is a Latina that has focused on advancing women and minorities in STEM. Outside of work she teaches computer science to underserved high school students, as well as being on many organizations to diversify tech. Arguello is very inspiring to me because she represents something I want to become.

Tell us a fun fact about yourself! 

I am double-jointed!