Whenever I tell people I am a female coder, they either are pleasantly taken aback or almost appalled. Sometimes I wish I could record some of the reactions, they are so varied and interesting.
But if I were to look back, I must say I was never a coder to start with. When I completed my engineering in the Electronics and Communications Branch, I would have to admit that I felt lost. In college initially, coding was not something I was fascinated by; in fact my tryst with coding began much later once I graduated and began to streamline my career path and the goals I wanted to accomplish.
When I started my journey as a coder, at first, I faced several roadblocks and challenges. I remember thinking to myself, ‘I am not good at this, why am I even doing it?’, but as they say, things do fall into place if you keep making efforts in the right direction. I realized that if I wanted my professional trajectory to take a concrete shape, and if I wanted to be placed in a good product-based company, coding only would be my saving grace. I sourced my motivation from my goal of wanting to bag a job at a company of my dreams.
After gaining some experience, I took the decision to join Scaler Academy. At Scaler, a realization hit me – I was unable to improve my skills because I was not spending adequate time developing them. And that was it, that was the igniting spark which I needed, and I started spending as much time as possible and began devoting it towards attending the classes, solving problems and building understanding of concepts. The course initially seemed very tough, and the content seemed alien.
It would be safe to say that I have spent countless hours, solving varied problems, all the while enjoying the whole learning process. At times, if I didn’t solve questions for a day or two, it felt as if something was amiss in my daily routine.
As I delved deeper into coding, I saw a transformation in my life. This journey has given me so much – I have become a much more confident individual, I have gained placement offers from several great firms, and have also developed micro skills which I look to implement in my everyday work tasks. The proud feeling I get, that is when I make heads turn as a female professional climbing up the ladder in a male dominated industry; well, it is unparalleled.
I am just starting out, and have a long road ahead of me. My dream company is Microsoft, and I know that I would make it there one day. A mantra I follow, that I always tell others about, is that if you look at the obstacles in life as a threat, they will deter you and could lead you to failure, but if you look at them as a challenge and make the right efforts, then you are surely going to succeed.
