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Welcome to My World
Dec. 8th, 2022 02:33 pmLet's start with my name. I am Hannah Njoroge. My core values are determination, growth, and compassion. I am a very determined person now more than ever I want to achieve my goals and become an expert at what I do. I want to be able to help others.
I started the journey of coding in 2019 when I had just quit my full-time job where I was working as a Quality Control Analyst in a Pharmaceutical laboratory. I don't know what I had imagined the journey would be like because as soon as I began a BootCamp the whole journey seemed so hard for me and honestly at some point I would catch myself regretting that I had quit my job. What I did not realize at that moment is that the previous work environment was very toxic and it had really messed me up. I was filled with fear and self-doubt to the point I would just get very bad panic attacks. I let fear of the unknown and imagined fear consume me to the core and I quit Bootcamp while I had only learned HTML and CSS. I literally packed up my laptop. I felt like a loser who just quit her job and now has quit what she was really determined to do and passionate about.
Since 2019 I experimented with a lot of things which of course did not work. In 2020 at the height of the pandemic, at least one thing got to work and I got my son. This was also my rebirth as he challenged me in the way he was determined to learn every little thing without giving up. I watched as his little arms held a shaker, he would explore it with his mouth and little fingers until he figured out how to hold it and actually shake it. He would marvel at the sound of the shaker. When it was his time to crawl and walk it was the same thing. He joyfully took his first step amid a lot of trembling and finally when he was able to, he would smile boldly and take the second and the third until he could walk stably. This got me thinking, " Why did I let fear cripple me?". I took back my laptop, dusted it, and now I was determined to make baby steps like my son. I decided to rewrite my story again and rejoined the BootCamp again in June 2021. In 6 months I was done and I was the most excited woman in the world.
A new chapter of looking for internships began. It wasn't easy as now I was 30 and I felt disadvantaged with a family to run, a toddler, and a new career. At some point, I got an internship but it never worked as the employee without even letting my skills speak for me, assuming that I had a lot on my plate and explicitly told me he preferred younger women or men because they did not have a lot of responsibilities. This left me really feeling bad and it is at this point that a friend suggested I try applying for an Outreachy internship.
I tendered my application in August and waited. To my shock, I was selected out of more than 4,000 applicants. I began my contribution journey. I worked with very helpful mentors who guided us diligently. This was exciting as it was my first time working with people from all over the world. Again I tendered my application and waited and to my shock again out of more than 1000 applicants I was again selected to work with my dream organization, Wikimedia.
I can confidently say that Outreachy has really done a great thing by giving me and other under-represented individuals this chance after so many failures, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel living my dream of becoming a software developer at 30.
Thank you Outreachy and I am looking forward to this exciting journey.
I started the journey of coding in 2019 when I had just quit my full-time job where I was working as a Quality Control Analyst in a Pharmaceutical laboratory. I don't know what I had imagined the journey would be like because as soon as I began a BootCamp the whole journey seemed so hard for me and honestly at some point I would catch myself regretting that I had quit my job. What I did not realize at that moment is that the previous work environment was very toxic and it had really messed me up. I was filled with fear and self-doubt to the point I would just get very bad panic attacks. I let fear of the unknown and imagined fear consume me to the core and I quit Bootcamp while I had only learned HTML and CSS. I literally packed up my laptop. I felt like a loser who just quit her job and now has quit what she was really determined to do and passionate about.
Since 2019 I experimented with a lot of things which of course did not work. In 2020 at the height of the pandemic, at least one thing got to work and I got my son. This was also my rebirth as he challenged me in the way he was determined to learn every little thing without giving up. I watched as his little arms held a shaker, he would explore it with his mouth and little fingers until he figured out how to hold it and actually shake it. He would marvel at the sound of the shaker. When it was his time to crawl and walk it was the same thing. He joyfully took his first step amid a lot of trembling and finally when he was able to, he would smile boldly and take the second and the third until he could walk stably. This got me thinking, " Why did I let fear cripple me?". I took back my laptop, dusted it, and now I was determined to make baby steps like my son. I decided to rewrite my story again and rejoined the BootCamp again in June 2021. In 6 months I was done and I was the most excited woman in the world.
A new chapter of looking for internships began. It wasn't easy as now I was 30 and I felt disadvantaged with a family to run, a toddler, and a new career. At some point, I got an internship but it never worked as the employee without even letting my skills speak for me, assuming that I had a lot on my plate and explicitly told me he preferred younger women or men because they did not have a lot of responsibilities. This left me really feeling bad and it is at this point that a friend suggested I try applying for an Outreachy internship.
I tendered my application in August and waited. To my shock, I was selected out of more than 4,000 applicants. I began my contribution journey. I worked with very helpful mentors who guided us diligently. This was exciting as it was my first time working with people from all over the world. Again I tendered my application and waited and to my shock again out of more than 1000 applicants I was again selected to work with my dream organization, Wikimedia.
I can confidently say that Outreachy has really done a great thing by giving me and other under-represented individuals this chance after so many failures, self-doubt, and imposter syndrome. I can now see the light at the end of the tunnel living my dream of becoming a software developer at 30.
Thank you Outreachy and I am looking forward to this exciting journey.
