teleren/devto huggingface dataset:
Nevertheless, Layne McNish Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:14

---
title: Nevertheless, Layne McNish Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

My partner and I were discussing moving away from New York City and I knew that I did not want to continue working in my previous field outside of NYC.  A bandmate of mine told me about a bootcamp ad he'd seen and I decided to check it out.  When I saw that the deadline was that day, I decided why not and applied.  

(If you know me well, you'll know that many of my major life decisions were made by saying "why not" and just blindly jumping in.)

Anyways, I did my interview the next day and had an offer soon after that.  Within a week, I went from never considering switching to coding to being accepted and putting in my notice at work.  A few weeks later, I moved across the country to start school and haven't looked back since.

## I'm currently hacking on...

a robot that can play the ukulele!  I'm in the midst of writing a talk for [self.conference](http://selfconference.org/sessions) about integrating your outside passions with your coding practice.  I am a classically trained cellist so I wanted to write about combining my passions with music and my passion for coding.  Originally, I thought about having the robot play cello but decided that ukulele would be much easier.

## I'm excited about...

the robot to actually play the ukulele...  So far, I can only get it to move the solenoids back and forth so there's still a ways to go.

## My advice for other women who code is...

Just go for it!  

Also, read "Women Don't Ask".  It was such a game changer for me in regards to negotiations and for speaking up for myself.  Another great book is "What Works for Women at Work: Four Patterns Working Women Need to Know" which I'm reading right now for a book club.

Next, find some folks who you can ask questions, complain about your bugs and chat with without judgement.  If you still are searching for that group, try your local meetups, [RailsBridge](http://www.railsbridge.org/) events (and other [Bridge Foundry](http://bridgefoundry.org/) events) and slack groups like [WomenInTech](http://witchat.github.io/) or [slashrocket](https://slashrocket.io/).  

Finally, if you find that you still need someone to talk to or ask questions to, feel free to [reach out to me](https://twitter.com/laynemcnish) and I can either help direct you to someone who might know or answer it myself!
Nevertheless, Olya coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:13

---
title: Nevertheless, Olya coded
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I was interested in complex systems.  Most complex systems live in physics (atoms and galaxies) or in biology (you).  The living ones are my favorite. :) Computer science became a way for me to explore and play with complex systems, where worlds can be created, torn down and rebuilt (sort of hard to do in real living systems).  We can simulate things that we cannot actually build, and may not yet even fully understand. Look at how far we have come with recent advances into neuroscience and genetics that were brought to us by hackers. :). That is why I got into CS.

## I'm currently hacking on...

An AI simulator to replicate behavior of a human operator in a security domain.

## I'm excited about...

The next steps in AI. We have now arrived at a point where old algorithms (reinforcement learning, search, clustering, etc) have been flying high, enabled by large volumes of data available to them.  I'm excited about next steps, where we can develop new ways of working with that data, hopefully inspired by the way actual living systems process and manage information.

## My advice for other women who code is...

The odds are in your favor.  Don't let the fact that you are often the only girl in the room discourage you - most people in the field are interested in doing interesting work and sharing it with others, whatever their background. Create good work that interests you - that work will become your calling card, and it will represent you better than just your name and gender. :) It will help other good coders and dev teams discover you through your work.  Great teams value everyone who brings good ideas, enthusiasm and expertise, and there are lots of great teams to choose from. Do what you like and let your work lead you to your tribe. :)
Nevertheless, Rachel Bird Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:12

---
title: Nevertheless, Rachel Bird Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I needed to do work that challenged me intellectually, and also rewarded me financially.

## I'm currently hacking on...

Working Women Advocates, an app I created for a hackathon at my web development boot camp, Fullstack Academy. It's designed to connect working women who are experiencing difficulties in the workplace privately and securely with advocates who provide support and guidance.

## I'm excited about...

Working Women Advocates! We're brand new and forming as a nonprofit. We're super busy and have achieved a lot already. Just had our first event this past weekend! If you'd like to learn more and even get involved, [check out us out here](http://workingwomenadvocates.org/). You can also [follow us on Twitter](https://twitter.com/WWAdvocates).  

## My advice for other women who code is...

Be sure to network with other women in tech, as well as other working women. There are great organizations to join like Systers, SheNomads, PayUp, Girl Develop It, and Woman Who Code, to name just a few. The understanding and support I've been met with through these groups has been invaluable.

Also, find allies who have your back! I found people like this among my coworkers, on Twitter, and through school. They will not tolerate me having to put up with any crap, and I know I can call on them anytime if I need their help.
Nevertheless, Shae Bryant Smith Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:11

---
title: Nevertheless, Shae Bryant Smith Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I really hated writing papers and I loved math and science class so when my high school offered a Computer Science elective it felt like it was something I should try. This first language I learned was BASIC! Lol. I loved the rush of sitting over a problem for a long time and then finally figuring out the solution. I was hooked. 

## I'm currently hacking on...

Learning React to build out a frontend for an admin service at work. I am really enjoying digging into this framework that I have wanted to learn for so long. 

## I'm excited about...

React! learning it and the cool things we can build with it.

## My advice for other women who code is...

Stick with it. Perseverance as a new dev learning how to code is critical to getting better. But also, perseverance, for the more experienced devs is critical to getting up that leadership ladder so that we can become more represent at all levels of tech.
Nevertheless, Emily Reese Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:11

---
title: Nevertheless, Emily Reese Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I was 23, working at Kickstarter on the Community team, and felt curious about how the website itself worked. I had always studied art and didn't have any previous coding experience. Once I really understood what could be built with code -- platforms dedicated to learning, creativity, art, inequality reduction, and more -- I knew I wanted to participate in the field.

I had just finished my master's thesis so filled up my newly free nights and weekends with HTML, CSS, Ruby, and JavaScript. 

I moved over to the Kickstarter engineering team a year later!

## I'm currently hacking on...

Tech education! I moved to Paris, France from NYC a few years ago and am Teaching Manager at OpenClassrooms, the largest online education platform in Europe (here's me):

![OC](https://s3.amazonaws.com/eclairereese.com/android.gif)

I'm building a [learning path](https://openclassrooms.com/paths/web-developer-frontend) on OpenClassrooms that teaches people to become frontend developers and culminates in an internationally-recognized degree. Students earn the degree by doing our projects, taking our courses, and getting help from a mentor once per week.

It's an incredible way to help people make the same transition to coding I did. I was privileged to already work for a startup, but there are people trying to become developers who lack access to the same resources and support systems. (Also pretty incredible: getting to meet the President of France when he came to visit us!)

## I'm excited about...

Helping refugees and underprivileged communities find jobs in tech that pay well without them needing to shell out thousands of dollars for institutional education in other fields. We, the tech community, have a lot of great work to do here, especially in Europe.

I'm also excited to finally feel at home in France. I moved here on a whim, completely alone, and it's taken hard work to build what I have in this new country. I  **really** encourage other women to do this: move somewhere entirely for yourself, and rebuild/rethink your life from in a new environment.

## My advice for other women who code is...

Find your passion and code in order to help that passion. You don't _have_ to code just for the sake of coding. You can code for art (ex. at a museum), for humanity (ex. at a nonprofit), or for anything else, and you'll make a difference. 

Stay strong in your opinions, but always listen and reconsider your worldview.

Lastly, intersectionality is important. I'm a straight, able-bodied white woman, and though I've dealt with plenty of nonsense sexism, I'm still very privileged. It's only through listening and supporting stories from all marginalized communities -- through the lenses of race, class, ability, ethnicity, and gender -- that we can create a better environment for everyone.
Nevertheless, TheCodeGoddess Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:02

---
title: Nevertheless, TheCodeGoddess Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I was a huge fan of the show _Buffy the Vampire Slayer_ and I wanted to create a fan site. I found myself writing HTML in my notebook in between classes in college. One day some said to me "You know that's a job" and my life was changed. 

## I'm currently hacking on...

Tons of unfinished projects. I am always starting something, then I get side tracked by something new. Sometimes, it's just the tons of Codepens that I created just to play around with some cool new CSS trick. My computer is filled with local git repos of __cool things__ I had every intention of finishing.   

## I'm excited about...

I've decided that I want to build something in React Native. As soon as I come up with an idea, I can't wait to get started and see something I've built working as an app on my phone!

## My advice for other women who code is...

_Imposter Syndrome_ is a really thing that happens in our industry and someone recently shared something with me that changed my outlook on things. When you find yourself saying the words "I can't" or "I don't understand" tack on the word "yet". Example:

"I don't understand how ES6 generators work... _yet_".

"I can't figure out how this is working... _yet_". 

It will change how you see yourself and help you to remember that coding is about constantly learning and growing.
Nevertheless, Sushma Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:10

---
title: Nevertheless, Sushma Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I wrote my first code while pursuing my Masters degree in Physics - a program in Assembly language to add two numbers! It was fascinating to see how computer instructions are actually performed on the hardware. That triggered my interest in programming.

## I'm currently hacking on...

A software project in the area of health, diagnostics and life sciences

## I'm excited about...

The possibilities that my work provides me with.

## My advice for other women who code is...

All it takes is hard work, persistence and confidence.
Nevertheless, Sushma Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:10

---
title: Nevertheless, Sushma Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I wrote my first code while pursuing my masters degree in Physics - a program in assembly language to add two numbers! It was fascinating to see how computer instructions are actually performed on the hardware. That triggered my interest in programming.

## I'm currently hacking on...

A software project in the area of health, diagnostics and life sciences

## I'm excited about...

The possibilities that my work provides me with.

## My advice for other women who code is...

All it takes is hard work, persistence and confidence.
Nevertheless, andela-gnyenyeshi Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:09

---
title: Nevertheless, andela-gnyenyeshi Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

I wanted to build a game :)

## I'm currently hacking on...
Building a mobile app using React-Native

## I'm excited about...
Virtual Reality and all the possibilities it brings

## My advice for other women who code is...

Don't stop learning.
Nevertheless, Nested bloop Coded
Tags: wecoded, java
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:09

---
title: Nevertheless, Nested bloop Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded, java
---

## I began coding because...

I used to be a product manager and wanted to understand developers better. The best way to understand developers and their problems is to learn programming - and that's what I started to do. After 1 year I quit my management job and became a Java developer because I enjoyed coding a lot and saw great opportunities in developer's career. Also I liked how I almost felt my brain grow inside my head when coding. Plus no need to talk to people anymore. Just kidding. Still I used to be quite introverted for a manager but as a developer I'm almost a social butterfly.

## I'm currently hacking on...

My project at current job that requires lots of archeological skills.

## I'm excited about...

Clean code, unit testing and refactoring.

## My advice for other women who code is...

Disregarding gender my advice to anyone who begins to code is: code more, read more, solve problems by yourself instead of asking someone for help - it's painful but gives you lots of experience that you need to make progress.
Accepting and Mitigating Imposter Syndrome
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:32:04

---
title: Accepting and Mitigating Imposter Syndrome 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

Don't let anyone talk down to you, starting with you.

Monday was my first day in a new job, my first role with a title prefixed with "Senior". My immediate instinct upon seeing my new email signature was to query with the line manager if there had been some kind of mistake. Imposter syndrome is a daily reality. Accept that it will happen, and work to build healthy self-awareness and coping mechanisms within yourself.

I am certainly not advocating that women are their own worst enemy, that gender disparity in tech is because women 'just aren't confident enough', or other bullshit excuses. The root issues are absolutely external to you. *You are not the problem*.

But, my own experiences tell me that after every setback and negative experience, I carried an echo of it with me in my brain, which at times has threatened to poison newer and healthier working environments with self-doubt. You won't be able to fix an entrenched toxic workplace alone (don't ruin your health trying -- *quit*, find a better place), but in a supportive professional environment you can work to mitigate and silence the outdated, internal voice telling you that you're not good enough.

I'm saying this because it's important to be able to go home at the end of your working day and feel good about yourself and proud of your own achievements. All of the positive working environments in the world can't *make* you feel good about yourself. If you can achieve a feeling of satisfaction and contentedness from your own efforts, you are that much stronger.
Nevertheless, Hannah Masila Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:08

---
title: Nevertheless, Hannah Masila Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...
Coding is fun. It makes me feel like a goddess. A problem solver. An intelligent woman. I believe I can touch thousands of people through my code

## I'm currently hacking on...
A system to bridge the gap between the farmer and the market

## I'm excited about...

Life. Food. Happiness. Working out. Detective series. Science fiction movies. Extreme sports
## My advice for other women who code is...

You have the power to change the world right in your finger tips - literally. A problem shared is a problem half solved, but a problem coded is a problem fully solved
Nevertheless, Chazona Baum Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:08

---
title: Nevertheless, Chazona Baum Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

English was not my first language. I think partly because of that I've always been fascinated by languages as a means of expression and creativity, both as way to include others as well as to withhold information from those who didn't understand. (Side note: writing your teenage diary in Tolkien runes is a great way to ensure no one you know can ever read it.) Every spare moment growing up was spent on reading or creative writing. By college I had learned English, Latin, Spanish and Japanese, and toyed around with basic HTML and CSS. To me it was the same thing, just a different audience, vocabulary and different grammatical structure.

Accepted coding culture at my college at the time was pretty different, even though it was only a decade ago. IT and CS were pretty firmly divided, web developers were looked down on by programmers, and no one I knew studying these topics was a woman or nonbinary person; my own presentation was pretty masculine at the time. Even though I was fascinated by the web and was objectively good at math, I let other people's comments get into my head. I never viewed this as a possible "real job" for me, so when the time came to get a real job, I stopped coding altogether.

Along the way I've been gradually drawn back into code, inquiring about ways to transition into IT departments, but being pushed out of the workforce when I had my kids. When I discovered Free Code Camp's online curriculum last summer, it was the catalyst that got me back to learning code and building things. It kind of feels like coming home.

## I'm currently hacking on...

I'm currently working with Vue.js to make reactive web apps and games.

## I'm excited about...

The rapidly changing web development landscape. What we can do with the web has come so far in the last decade! I'm excited to see what new frameworks and technologies emerge and how the web changes as everything gets connected to it, even if we do see some wacky IoT shenanigans along the way.

## My advice for other women who code is...

Find online communities of women in tech, and if there are Women Who Code meetups or something similar near you, check them out in addition to your regular learning/networking efforts. As a local code meetup organizer, I've definitely noticed how often I am the only woman in the room.ðŸ˜… Having somewhere where you know that won't be the case can help when you feel intimidated or like you don't belong.

Also, if you happen to be in a position where you can do this: speak up about inclusion of parents even if you don't have kids or plan to yourself. If you haven't had kids, you really don't know how much of our systems in society (at least in the US) are designed to keep women at home if they have young children. Ensuring your workplace has good family leave policies and that your meetups are either family-friendly or show consideration for those who need childcare are a great way to help. Nursing tends to get all the attention, but the barriers don't end there.
Accepting and Mitigating Imposter Syndrome
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:04

---
title: Accepting and Mitigating Imposter Syndrome 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

Don't let anyone talk down to you, starting with you.

Monday was my first day in a new job, my first role with a title prefixed with "Senior". My first instinct upon seeing my new email signature was to query with the line manager if there had been some kind of mistake. Imposter syndrome is a daily reality. Accept that it will happen, and work to build healthy self-awareness and coping mechanisms within yourself.

I am certainly not advocating that women are their own worst enemy or that gender disparity in tech is because women 'just aren't confident enough' or other bullshit excuses. The root issues are absolutely external to you. *You are not the problem*.

But, my own experiences tell me that after every setback and negative experience, I carried an echo of it with me in my brain, which at times has threatened to poison newer and healthier working environments with self-doubt. You won't be able to fix an entrenched toxic workplace alone (don't ruin your health trying -- *quit*, find a better place), but in a supportive professional environment you can work to mitigate and silence the outdated, internal voice telling you that you're not good enough.

I'm saying this because it's important to be able to go home at the end of your working day and feel good about yourself and proud of your own achievements. All of the positive working environments in the world can't *make* you feel good about yourself. If you can achieve a feeling of satisfaction and contentedness from your own efforts, you are that much stronger against the world.
Nevertheless, Denise Nepraunig Coded
Tags: wecoded
Published: 2017-03-08 12:44:04

---
title: Nevertheless, Denise Nepraunig Coded 
published: true
tags: shecoded
---

## I began coding because...

it feels so magical what you can do with just a few lines of code. You can write your own programs and games who do exactly what you want them to do. I was always interested in computers and coding was the next logical step.

## I'm currently hacking on...

Demo applications written in Swift using our own SAP Cloud Platform SDK for iOS for our SAP and Apple partnership.

## I'm excited about...

iOS development with Swift and web development, especially JavaScript and node.js. I am also very excited about the future of AI and how voice assistants like Alexa will evolve. 

## My advice for other women who code is...

I'd love to hear more positive stories of women who code and who love their profession, unfortunately the media is full with negative stories of sexism and harassment. You also need a thick skin as soon as you expose yourself (blogging, speaking, tweeting) - haters gonna hate - but don't let them stop you! Believe in yourself and take opportunities.