I would like to second what Nicoya said.
Many times I have wanted to start down the path of a career in science but I
always felt behind so I assumed I would never be successful. I don't know at
what point I started feeling behind but most likely it was Jr. High. I just
stopped doing anything math or science related about that time for some
reason. Why I stopped is the million dollar answer to why girls don't go
into science careers, I guess. Then by high school I thought I was over the
hill. How absurd is that!!!!
Anyway- I went on and got a BA even though I considered changing my major
several times to something in the sciences. The inertia was overwhelming
each time I tried. Everyone was pretty discouraging. I can't tell you how
many times I've heard "- you don't have the math-yatta yatta yatta." At a
certain point I even thought it would be too hard to be a woman in one of
those majors. I liked my liberal arts buddies and classes.
The change came when I entered the work force and despite my liberal arts
degree and lack of any formal computer training my best job opportunity was
a computer job. Now I'm in the computer field and happier then I've ever
been intellectually. I've started a masters program in Computer science that
takes it into account that I have a liberal arts background. It's kicking my
ass but I want to overcome this.
I do think that a lot of people think they're over the hill at 17 like I did
and that is INSANE! Just like it's insane to think you are over the hill at
any age because it's not really about being the best person in your field
because you started programming at age 3, it's about enjoying programming,
right? We know this but somehow it doesn't sink into our minds. Even as I
write this I have to admit to feeling behind and trapped in a lower
paying/respected computer job due to lack of training and experience.
I saw a TV interview with a 90+ year old woman who did nothing but talk
about her life sailing. She had sailed here and there and every answer she
gave about her life went back to sailing. When the interviewer asked her
when she started sailing I was shocked to hear her answer. This woman did
not start sailing until she was 60 years old. I thought she had sailed her
whole life since she never mentioned anything else.
Helaine
From: "Nicoya Helm" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Subject: RE: [issues] YAFGA (Yet Another Female Geeks Article)
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2000 13:25:19 -0000
There was one passage in this article that really resonated with my personal
experience:
So by the time you get to high school, you've gone
through the last 10 years not getting as much exposure
as boys. Even if you haven't lost interest, you feel
like you are behind. Now would you choose that field,
if you really wanted to succeed?
Okay, this is not deeply philosophical, just notes from my life...
The above statement sums up my personal experience perfectly. I'm no where
near a hacker. I've just recently got my first linux box up and running.
The last thing I really coded was some BASIC drivel in high school. Yet
I've always been drawn to computers and technology, and somehow I always
managed to pick up stuff on the side of whatever else it was I was "really"
doing with my life. Still, the statement above applies to me because I found
it hard to get the level of exposure to computers that I desired. My
parents refused to buy me one, so of course I had to rely on exposure in
school. I did get a lot of wonderful exposure at school, but thinking that
I would never get to take what I was learning and apply it outside of school
lead to a certain amount of apathy on my part - like "oh, well, I'll never
get my own computer, why bother learning this stuff (even if I do really dig
it). I also resented the fact that most of the boys I knew had computers -
their parents thought it was a great "toy" for them. To make a long story
short, by the time I graduated college I realized that "it's never too late
to become what you've always wanted to be (George Elliot)", so I bought my
very first computer as a graduation gift to myself. Still, I've spent the
last couple of years feeling very behind, like I'm making up for a lot of
lost time. It wasn't till I had the maturity and determination to do it on
my own that I really was able to pursue computers, but I think if I'd had
more support along the way, esp. from people close to me like teachers and
family, then I might have graduated with a BS instead of a BA.
~~~Nicoya...
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