This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here.

Lucie has been a PhD student in geography and Korean studies at EHESS but recently decided to change careers and work in programming in the future. She organized Django Girls Paris in April and launched PyLadies Paris. Lucie attended the first Django Girls workshop at Europython last year and she coached this year at the Django Girls workshop in Bilbao. Lucie gave a talk at DjangoCon Europe 2015 on Django and Social Sciences. She is also the Django Girls Awesomeness Ambassador.

How did your story with code start?

I can remember three defining moments.

First act, 2012: I had to edit the source code of a software to make it work on Linux: it was a horrible piece of software from Korea which required to access results of the Test of Proficiency in Korean. I didn’t know what I was doing: I changed some stuff, copying what I was seeing in the file, and somehow, it worked!

Second act, 2012: I was editing a copy of a research book for my laboratory. I had worked something like 50 hours in one week because they didn’t known stuff like Latex existed… At the end, we had one hour left to merge and alphabetically sort bibliographies from different chapters in one big file. I thought that was something a small script could do so I asked my boyfriend to do it. It took him something like 10 minutes, corrections and debugging included. My advisor was so happy that she invited us both to dinner at a restaurant. I didn’t know how to code but I already knew that it could be really useful for automation of boring tasks. Sadly, I was starting my PhD so learning how to code was out of question (no free time!)

Third act, summer 2014: “Data and spreadsheets everywhere! There must be a software for research in Social Sciences to deal with this pile of data…” Well, sadly no software to save my life. It shocked me so much that I decided to find a way to create my own software: that’s when I heard of this workshop for women happening at EuroPython Berlin and I was lucky enough to attend :)

Before that, I’d been using, modifying, destroying or playing with computers for as long as I can remember! This is an old pictures of me that I love: my father had given me the opportunity to reinstall the family computer. I look very focused on it because it felt like such a huge responsability for ten year old me!

What did you do before becoming a programmer?

I was a PhD student in Geography and Korean studies mixing coding as much as possible with my research! Beeing the Django Girls Awesomeness Ambassador will give me the time to do the two things I love: Django Girls and learning programming :)

What do you love the most about coding?

Coding makes me happy: I write stuff, it works, I extend it, it breaks, I debug it, it works again, etc. I love the fact that I’m building stuff and solving problems. I love the fact that I’m always learning new things!

Also, like in research, there is also the need to let your code alone for a time, and to come back to it one day or week later with the thing that was missing or the solution for this problem that was tearing your hair out!

Why Django?

The admin interface! I needed forms and easy ways to manage data from my PhD: the admin interface was perfect for that at the beginning. Then, I discovered Django leaflet and I had to add it to my app. Then I saw other cool stuff to add, etc. It’s an enjoyable framework to learn, so I stayed :)

The second thing I love the most about Django is its community. Yes, you’re reading this: you’re awesome! I had a horrible experience with a tech group few years ago so I choose to back off and stayed out of the tech community. I was skeptical when I went to EuroPython last year because of that but except that one guy who said something stupid to me about women at tech conferences, I had the most amazing week for a long long time! I also attended DjangoCon Europe this year and it was even better: assistance for first time speakers or Daniele’s amazing work to include the conference in the city (art from Cardiff on our teeshirt! No waste policy, etc). There is so much positive energy in the Django community: that’s what you need when you’re new somewhere and still a beginner. So, thank you all for that :)

What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?

I’ve wrote a Python package to download all the things we need in case of a “no internet crisis” during a Django Girls event. It’s not perfect: right now, it’s mostly hard coded links. I plan to change it as soon as I have the time to finish a scraping tutorial!

What are you the most proud of?

I’m proud to be able to change things: for so long, it feels like coding was only for people from STEM and that suffering microagressions in meetups or IT events was mandatory. Now, I can get help from people who are also rejecting this model and do stuff the way I want: I’ve launched PyLadies in Paris for women, trans men and genderqueer people who are fed up with meetups not aiming at their wellbeing. Seeing people during Django Girls Paris and the PyLadies meetup being able to code and enjoying what they are doing without being annoyed is making me very proud. When people come to tell you thank you and goodbye personally at the end of those event, you know you made something useful.

What are you curious about?

Everything! I want to learn how things work and I love to strip down stuff. I also love to discover other cultures and countries. I try to have friends from everywhere :)

What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?

I discovered knitting last year and I love it: I have to focus on something and not being distracted by thoughts. It’s helping me when I’m too stressed to think or act. I’m scared to begin my first cardigan but I’ll start it soon!

I also try to meditate and go swimming but I’m bad at maintaining habits!

I love to cook! I’ve been a vegetarian for more than six month now and I’m still discovering so many new things to try. I love to try different food from different countries.

Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?

When I’m coaching at an event, I’m trying to explain to attendees that bugs or errors are normal: It’s not your fault, you’re learning and most of all, that doesn’t mean you suck at computers! Errors are scary for beginners so I try to tone it down as much as possible and to give them tools to find answers on the Internet for when they’ll be alone after the workshop.

Also, I try to find different types of tutorials for PyLadies Paris: if one tutorial isn’t working for you, try a different one! Don’t stop at the most famous one. There are tutorials dedicated to Humanities and Social Sciences, video games, biology, etc.

Anna Ossowski @OssAnna16

Thanks Lucie! :)