"The minority community in tech is one of the primary reasons I'm in it, if not for how supportive people were in online communities, navigating the space would have been so difficult and frightening for me.

There are parts of tech that are very equalizing but also parts that are extremely alienating.

I've been able to have experiences I really could not have afforded if not for the tech space. It's an industry with so much money + grant availability which makes it possible for people to pursue incredible opportunities, but also it can be really demoralizing and difficult. Everything is much easier if you have some kind of mentorship or previous background but that's especially difficult to come across for underrepresented communities.

For people just coming into the industry in a similar position as me, I would advise to 1) be really proactive about reaching out to people who are more established in the industry to learn more. There are plenty of people with the resources and willingness to provide some advice/connection 2) not assume incompetence because of lack of past experience 3) keep in mind the context of the tech world and have an accurate assessment of skills + appropriate compensation"