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May 9, 2026 6:10 PM

the confidence of a white man

I was invited to be on a Women in Tech panel for one of NCWIT's Aspirations in Computing event. The organizers provided a list of questions to answer, to talk about my experiences in the field and to give advice to the young students. But the main purpose of the event is that it's an awards ceremony for high schoolers that are involved in technology, who have already shown great promise and accomplishments at such a young age!

When I was in high school, I had no idea what I wanted to do for a career. Sure, I did well in school, but I didn't even think about college until the summer before senior year. I hadn't done any computer programming yet. And these kids, they're leading computer science and robotics clubs, and they're teaching other kids about programming.

What advice would you give to a woman studying computing or tech today?

I looked through your bios, and I have to say, you're all doing such great things and are already so far ahead of where I was when I was in high school. I don't think you really need my advice. So I'll just say something that my little sister has told me (and I hope this is appropriate) but sometimes, you just gotta approach things with the confidence of a white man.