February 15, 2022
Belonging
In today's class, the topic of Belonging was reflected upon. It is the sense of feeling welcomed and comfortable in an environment around you. Since this is a computer science course, the theme of belonging is important to think about as someone going into the world of technology. Which is...ah, not very welcoming for a lot of people or reasons. My experience has been so far the most welcoming once I reached Mount Holyoke, even though engineering and technology have been part of my life growing up. Being a very open historical women's college is definitely a large factor.
Our homework was to look at the home page of a tech event and think about the amount of sense of belonging we think as we see the slideshow of the conference.
To begin with, my first reaction was sadness. Not because the conference is sad, or because I wish I could attend. Rather, it's because it reminded me of what the majority of having tech careers look like which is industry and corporate. The pictures show hundreds if not thousands of people attending panels by large companies, start-ups introducing their products, and new research done. All the people are wearing suits, blazers, all shades of navy blue and black. White formal shirts. Slacks or high heels. Everything that I am not.
Looking at the home page, I imagined attending the event and I know for a fact I would not feel welcomed or as if I belonged. Everyone has to fit a part to be accepted or even regarded. As a Mexican woman who has been told constantly I fit the look of an art major, I probably would be rejected from a lot of networking opportunities that are usually made with profit in mind.
At 20, it is not a surprise I still don't know where I belong skills or career wise. I usually just follow my interests and big dreams and let them guide me as much as they can. However, what I do know is that I do not think I belong in a space like that. I'm no artist, but I think I would fit more with the artistic creators or researches in conferences full of color and graphics. I once attended a pretty big Physics conference by invitation from a director of a university in Mexico for my mother. At the age of 14, I tagged along because I had been looking up into the stars and thinking of astrophysics in MIT. The conference introduced me to nanotech and the term quantum computing, "huh, that's cool." However, every adult was wearing a lanyard, walking with a neutral expression, and fitting a mold that made me not want to grow up. I had asked the director what being a physicist was like and the picture he drew made me look back down to earth.
This tech conference reminded me of my thought, "I don't think this is for me," as I looked at all the people going from station to another as they network and work in business ventures or applying to jobs.
What do I think is for me? An open space, with less people and more liberty to be yourself. Fimble Lab is a great example of a technological environment where I feel like I belong. Where creativity thrives, manual creation is born, and a supportive is a given.