When I was in third grade, I was the fastest typer in my class. I knew how to speed-read, so that helped with “googling.” And I knew my way around computers. My dad would often bring home broken hard drives, and I’d take apart the heads and platters, only to put them back together just for fun.

One day during computer class, my third grade teacher said to the entire class:

“Girls don’t understand computers. They shouldn’t be building things on them.”

I can’t even begin to describe what it felt like as a young girl, interested in computers. I felt like my dream had been squashed. It felt as though being the fastest typer in class didn’t mean anything, because I’m a girl. It felt as though all those times taking apart pens or hard drives were useless, just because I’m a girl. All the times using Google to find things I was curious about were nil.

I think it’s important to show young children — regardless male or female, that it’s good to be interested in anything. It’s great to be curious and to learn from your mistakes. It’s okay to try again. And most importantly, it’s okay to ask for help and advice. Because gender should never play a role.

It’s important to acknowledge that people have tried to push me down, shut me up, or stop me from doing what I wanted to do — whether intentionally or unintentionally (frankly, I don’t really care). But finding the right mentors can help you build resilience and bounce back.

As a female developer, I used to read a lot of resources on how to succeed in a male dominant field. I found a lot of resources that say — look for other female mentors that can help you navigate the confusing world of tech. That goes without saying; we want someone who can speak our language and someone we can connect with. Some developers however, take this advice quite literally. I would argue that there are many people that can help you grow in the world — don’t just limit yourself to female mentors.

I am currently an Ethereum Developer, as I fully fleshed out and built a state channel to fully support ERC20 tokens and ETH. The code I wrote has just gone through security audits, and is now main-net ready. I have learnt so much about the tech, but also about interacting with colleagues, pitching projects, learning from experience, and learning by listening and watching. I have written multiple Ethereum Development resources, including Reducing Gas Fees and State Channel Wallets. Many developers reached out to me, thanking me for compiling and writing them. I’m co-running Stackathon (applications close on November 14th!) at work, inviting around 20–30 people into the office for a 24-hour hackathon which is also completely female run. I am also giving back to my former high school, by doing short blockchain tutorials to introduce high school students to blockchain tech. I cannot even hope to list the list of things that I have learnt on the job — but I’m really proud of how far I’ve come. This process never would have been possible without STK’s support to help me grow, and all the different role models I’ve had — all across the company.

Over the series of a few articles, I’m going to talk specifics of the journey of women in tech, and how much of an impact they had on me. Some of my mentors were there to catch me when I fell and help me back up. At times, they listened and provided advice on how to keep going. At times, I failed them — or they failed me. But these experiences taught me a lot about finding mentors, listening, and learning from them. All of these mentors brought me to where I am now. And I think it’s important to share.