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There have been courses that I have embraced because I started to become more confident in myself, which made me feel like I belonged. Looking back, I believe that the messages from the environment played a role. One particularly relevant course is Data Structures. Many people have warned me that the course is “not for the weak” and “weeds out people” from pursuing computer science. Hearing this from my fellow peers who’ve struggled before me, at first I was disheartened and felt like I didn’t belong because I didn’t have a strong background before entering CS in Mount Holyoke. Most of my peers had already taken AP Computer Science or had taken CS courses in the summer as prep. 

At the start of my experience in Data Structures, I did not have confidence in myself since my experience in Intro to CS wasn’t great because I didn’t enjoy or understand Python. The TA hours were not helpful as the TAs would try to solve your code themselves. In Data Structures, when I had gotten a bad grade for my second quiz in the semester, that did not diminish my sense of belonging in the class. This is all because my professor reached out to me stating: “Hi Jennifer, How are you doing? I wanted to reach out because I noticed that you did not do very well on Quiz 2. I want to remind you that there are many opportunities to test your learning in this class and, therefore, that no one assignment determines your learning path or grade in this course. You also have the opportunity to revise and resubmit this Quiz. I also want to remind you that I am here to support you and your learning.” I was surprised because coming from a public school in New York City, where there was immense competitiveness from all students all over the city, for the first time I didn’t feel ashamed or discouraged for not performing well. Ever since then, I’ve kept that email in my inbox. 

There was also immense support from my friends who took the class and/or were in the class who were willing to sit down and talk through how I felt about the assignments. The lab instructor Tayloe, also provided detailed guidance for me in the assignments when I felt completely stuck and overwhelmed. The teaching assistant hours that I would visit every time they were available was also a supportive environment. The TAs would sit down with me and ask me questions about my approach to the assignment rather than taking my computer to debug it themselves. Despite the course being difficult, the environment that I was in made me feel like I belonged and my mindset was unwavering where I felt like I could tackle anything with the support I was receiving. If I were to revisit my decision in choosing to take Data Structures, I would tell myself that she would get through it, not compare herself with anyone, and not to be ashamed of the lack of experience she had.