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How did you find your way into tech?<\/h3>\nI took my first computing course in high school and enjoyed every moment of it. We unfortunately didn\u2019t have a teacher to take the course further, so it was set aside. After leaving high school I tried joining the RAF to become a pilot, but my spatial awareness was nowhere near good enough to fly. I was also only 18 at the time and definitely notready for that sort of life.<\/p>\n
At this point I was at a bit of a loss with what to do with myself and a local college sent out prospectuses to encourage people to attend. I flipped through and saw they offered computing, so I applied. It was a subject I had previously enjoyed and felt I could do well in. I remembered it being challenging, interesting and a subject I could take in my stride. I got the grades I needed from college and made it into university. Since then, my interest and passion has grown, and I know for sure this is exactly what I\u2019m meant to be doing.<\/p>\n
My degree is Computing Science. It is very varied which means there is always engaging material. I\u2019ve covered a range of topics from games development, mobile app development, databases, networks, and programming. We\u2019ve had the opportunity to try different languages such as Java, Python, Kotlin, and C. In the early years you also get the chance to do modules not related to your degree, so I chose criminal law and accounting. It\u2019s great to be able to develop yourself in your own unique way and build skills you wouldn\u2019t necessarily think you would.<\/p>\n
The material is a good mix of code-based assessment and written assessment, giving practice for the dissertation year. The written ones are usually quite open \u2013ended, giving a chance to do additional research and apply it to the context of the code project.<\/p>\n
There are lots of opportunities for women on the degree, such as encouragement to participate in the Lovelace Colloquium, seminars and other events designed specifically for women. It\u2019s been so encouraging finding and getting to know other women in STEM through these events and not feeling like you\u2019re one of very few!<\/p>\n
My advice is to use your strengths to your advantage. Personally, I\u2019m not the best at maths but I have plenty of patience to do loads of examples to gain the understanding I require. The skills you currently have are always transferable, even if it\u2019s not obvious at first. Identify your skills early and build them up, use them to support the skills you have that need more work. Don\u2019t let anything or anyone tell you that you can\u2019t do it and you don\u2019t belong in tech. I\u2019ve struggled the last couple years with self-doubt from Imposter Syndrome and only recently have I got it under control. I think it affects all of us in tech to a certain degree, but you cannot let it affect what you\u2019re doing. Take it in your stride and use it to motivate and encourage you, don\u2019t let it take control and sink your passion.<\/p>\n
My dissertation project has been based on the Travelling Salesperson Problem and the Knapsack Problem, which I\u2019ve developed a real interest in. I\u2019ve been developing the project with a haulage company, so it\u2019s been exciting to develop a real, tangible project for an actual client. It\u2019s been very interesting researching the problems and exploring how these problems don\u2019t just apply to routing and loading in a haulage sense, but the TSP applied to things like DNA mapping, aiming telescopes at the stars and scheduling jobs. I\u2019ve enjoyed the challenge of using everything I\u2019ve learned the last 3 and a half years and combining it into a project that is my own. It\u2019s been important to manage my own time and balance the rest of the modules that need to be completed too, while maintaining my own high standards of work.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
\u201cIdentify your skills early and build them up, use them to support the skills you have that need more work.\u201d How did you find your way into tech? I took my first computing course in high school and enjoyed every moment of it. We unfortunately didn\u2019t have a teacher to take the course further, so […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":251,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_crdt_document":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[12,15,16,18],"class_list":["post-91","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-case-studies","tag-careers-and-courses","tag-tech-advice","tag-tech-interests","tag-ways-into-tech"],"yoast_head":"\n