Nevertheless, DEV's rejection gave me the push to pursue Software Engineering and I am still coding.
Tags: wecoded, rejection
Published: 2021-03-09 03:30:19

---
title: Nevertheless, DEV's rejection gave me the push to pursue Software Engineering and I am still coding. 
published: true
tags: shecoded, rejection
---
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Fall 2018, I applied for DEV's Community Coordinator position. As hyped and excited I was to get this job, I was sadly not selected for the role. However, I wanted to share my story of **why rejection only means you aren't aiming high enough**. 

##Story
At a young age of 8, I wanted to be a Computer Programmer. That was when my grandmother found and handed me this gigantic book on Computer Programming by Microsoft. I didn't know jack sh*t what it was, but I had a feeling this was what I wanted to be in the future. My mom supported this and even suggested I should pursue it too. I remembered when my classmates would ask what a Computer Programmer was when we had to share what we wanted to be when we grow older. All I know as my mom would say, **"it's the future."**

After high school I enrolled in my local community college majoring in Computer Science. The first class was intro to programming, learning C++. 
I remember walking in that classroom and it was a sausage fest, there were only 2 females myself included. 
The course was difficult and to be honest I felt intimidated due to the lack of support and overall low self-esteem I had at the time. I also dated a guy who told me that, **"Women aren't ought to be engineers and are better suited as marketers or publicists."** That very moment I gave up my dream of becoming a Computer Programmer. 

Fast forward, I graduated in Communication Studies and worked many marketing internships. I was good at what I did, but I always felt marketing was pure BS. There was no challenge and for a while I felt unhappy. That was when I found DEV's job posting, I felt my dream and aspirations for software development beamed inside me. This gave me a chance to share my lost story with the team. During the interviews I couldn't stop talking about my passion for programming. It was clear that I still wanted to be a programmer.

When DEV sent me the rejection email, they included that they wanted to know the progress of my programming journey. Soon after that, I signed into a coding bootcamp and after 1.5 years I graduated in late 2020. I could have not be any happier, who knew coding could be so empowering.

##Wrapping Up
You have to view rejection as a reflection of how big you're dreaming and how high you're aiming. Rejection is a mechanism for feedback. It made me realize what I was missing in my life. I am happy that the DEV team believed in me and my potential, they encouraged me to pursue my dreams. I will be forever thankful. 
To all women out there, don't hold back from pursuing your dreams even if you are years late you can make it happen. 


## My biggest goal (right now)
Completing the entire book on 
[How to Design Programs](https://htdp.org/2020-8-1/Book/index.html)

## My biggest goal (future) 
We need more cultural diversity in tech, more women of color. 
I want to be that voice, especially for first generation Americans who come from immigrant families. 


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