Celebrating Women doing hard things!

In lieu of the Women’s History Month, we had the pleasure of interviewing three of our students from the only all-women cohort; C14. We are honoured to share with you their inspiring stories.

MATILDA DOGBATSEY

Remember why you started, in the first place.

Meet Matilda Dogbatsey, a Ghanaian based photographer, filmmaker, music video director and an aspiring software engineer.  Last month, we had the honour of interacting with Matilda, who shared her experience as an SE student at ALX.

Change has the power to show us new horizons, or to blind us to the life we have. For Matilda, change was a blessing. Her life seemed to pause, when she got married and was expecting a child. She couldn’t travel as often as she wanted to, or actively engage in her usual activities. 

The opportunity to learn software engineering arose at the perfect time; one she leaped at. This kept her active and engaged. Matilda values the power of growth. She invested in herself even when it was difficult, as she was cognizant of the need to evolve into a better version of who she was.

Being new to Software Engineering wasn’t always easy. It initially sounded like Greek to her, and she had no idea how she would catch up. Nonetheless, she found her rhythm and began to fall in love with this decision. “Having an all women cohort was what I truly needed,” she said. She found a family and a tribe, which related with her unique experiences as a woman. She found like-minded people, who shared similar interests, and circumstances while pursuing the software engineering course. It wasn’t always easy to meet people who would understand what it meant to have a child, manage a home and a family  while studying.

During her journey, Matilda has experienced some difficulties along the way. These have taught her the value of a support system. Being in an all-women cohort surrounded her with strong women who encouraged her to keep going. Her ultimate motivation, even in the toughest times, was the constant reminder of why she started in the first place. Right from the beginning, this fueled her focus, to the extent of attending her class orientation in the labor ward! Her growth was so vital to her, she managed to persevere and to keep studying even through postpartum depression. For her, quitting was never an option. As an African woman, she seeks to redefine cultural stereotypes, by proving that women are more than homemakers, and are fully capable of doing hard things!

Fusing tech and software has now become an exciting journey for her. This experience has taught her to think outside the box, to create realities yet to be seen, but mostly, it has empowered her to know her dreams are not only valid, they are also possible. 

After all is said and done, Matilda desires to fuse her media skills with the skills she has acquired at ALX SE, to create a platform, through which she can share African content  in stock images, stills and motion graphics. Being a student at ALX has given her this foundation, but more importantly, it has taught her to learn, and she does not intend on quitting. 

LAIDE ENDELEY

Never give up!

Meet Laide Enely, an educator, and a programmer,  pursuing her dream in Software Engineering at ALX. Her ultimate dream is to be an educator who makes learning a fun and easy experience through her software engineering skills.

For Laide, Software engineering has always been a passion, and a talent. Since she was 16, she was always drawn to Software engineering. Being a part of the ALX SE software engineering has awakened her passion for problem solving, a fundamental quality of any educator and an ALX SE student. We do hard things!

Her love for software engineering made it difficult for her to blend in with her mates, even while a child. Many were surprised at this, because of her femininity. Nonetheless, she didn’t quit pursuing her dreams. From being one of 3 girls in her first SE classes to being a part of a huge community of women in ALX, doing hard things, Laide has not let anything stop her from pursuing her dreams. Eventually, those who doubted her, soon met with the reality that in fact, she was a force to be reckoned with.

A king maker in her own stead, Laide has nurtured the talent within all those with the privilege of being taught by her to go further in life, and has inspired many, to pursue software engineering just like her. She is one of many women breaking boundaries, and redefining the culture of this world. After doing her portfolio project, she reaffirmed her love for SE, and her potential and capability to revolutionize education systems for children. She believes that learning can be fun and easy, and she dreams to create a platform through which children can learn more efficiently.

She also is cognizant of the difficulties that arise with starting this great journey in software engineering. Nonetheless, she is very intentional about her support system and relying on it for strengths when she lacks it. “Be vocal about your problems, and reach out for help!” she insists. For Laide, life should never be done alone. Our support systems lighten our burdens very significantly and make our lives much better. This is how she managed to pursue the course without quitting. 

MARIAM IBRAHIM

Anything you want to do may potentially be hard;  if you quit, because of hardship, you may have to quit forever. Look around;  you will find that help was right around the corner, for you’re never alone.

Meet Mariam, an electrical engineering student, who always had the dream to be a software engineer. After not attaining her dream course, in software engineering, Mariam chose to pursue electrical engineering. But not all hope was lost for her. She found out about the ALX Software Engineering program, one which she took up without hesitation. The miracle of pursuing her dream career without having to pay for it was a beacon of hope for her, one which she has never taken for granted.

Coincidentally, the skills acquired in her software engineering classes have made her electrical engineering classes much easier. She came to the full appreciation of the quality of the ALX SE course when she saw that the skills taught in her SE classes were vital for her coding classes in her electrical engineering classes. Her knowledge from these classes set her ahead of her classmates and made what was once a course she didn’t desire to learn, more doable, and something she was good at. 

Her dream is to create a learning management system eventually. She is cognizant of the vacuum in the current learning systems, which came to light during the COVID 19 pandemic. The reality that schools had to close without alternative means of teaching students during the pandemic in her nation sparked this concern within her; one she hopes to solve. She desires to create a  learning management system which is flexible enough to remain relevant and applicable regardless of the circumstances within the world. 

For Mariam, quitting is never meant to be an option, because difficulties are an inevitable part of life. “Anything you want to do may potentially be hard;  if you quit, because of hardship, you may have to quit forever.” She believes that we will always experience some form of hardships in life and we should always supersede the fear of failure. Beyond our fears, we shall realize that we are never alone. There is a family and a community around us willing to help and support us. Don’t quit doing hard things!