Natalie Joy Hawi Odhiambo

I think I have a lot of my points in threes. First thing is my faith, because I grew up in a Christian household, and I think if I didn't have that faith, I wouldn't have anything to kind of fall back on and hold on to. Sometimes when the world is really loud, you can't always listen to people's advice consciously, so just me being able to lean back on God and be like, okay, this was hard, but I think if I pray about it, if I write it down and actually manifest it, it will happen. Second is my parents and my whole family, because my parents are very patient with me, and they have made this journey possible for me. Moving from Kenya to the U.S. is a gigantic step, and there's so much to consider, but they were with me throughout my whole journey. They've supported me emotionally and financially, and I'm very grateful for them. I just want to make them proud and for them to see that I'm an investment that was worth it. And third, I think all the mentors that I've met along the way, and that's why, for me, networking is very important. There's so many people who, from the outside perspective, don't necessarily know my whole story, but they see something in me. Sometimes you need a stranger's perspective or an outsider's perspective to kind of ground you and tell you that it's not for nothing. Even on the days when I want to give up, because I didn't get an internship this summer, and as a junior, that was a tough blow. Something I had to actually work through and tell myself is that everyone's journey is different and what you do in a situation is what makes the difference. But having mentors and people who are examples is definitely something that makes me feel better, and I can say they've helped me in my journey.

The best career advice I've received, I think the first one is to not give up and to always keep trying, because sometimes you'll see the odds are against you, but everyone has to have a starting point, and everyone's journey looks different, so never compare yourself to anyone. Always look to the future and always look to what your goals are. And then the second one is on your resume, be able to explain everything that you've done, because anyone can put down that they've done a project, for example with computer science. But understanding what it does, what impact it has, and what it meant to you is what really makes the difference.

I would say make sure you research a lot and talk to people in whatever field that you want to get into. And then, also, to never sell yourself short, because sometimes you'll feel like the odds are against you, you'll feel that imposter syndrome, you'll feel like there's smarter people, there's people with more experience and more to offer. But at the end of the day, what makes the difference is how hard are you willing to work for what you want? How patient are you willing to be to get to where you want to be? And also, how many risks are you willing to take and invest in yourself to get to where you want to be? Networking is so important because it opens up your mind to different perspectives, different culture, different mindset. It helps you think outside the box. Because I think if you stay in one place for too long, you don't have room in your mind to grow and to shift your mindset and to actually think, okay, I didn't really think about it from this point of view, but this could be easier or this could be better. So, just don't sell yourself short, and don't be afraid to speak up and to rise to the occasion. Being able to trust in yourself enough to know that you can be good enough.

I think this summer, because I didn't get an internship, I'm just doing a lot of online courses, because these days you can literally just search up, and with the growth of tech and AI, you can get resources off the internet and just put them into AI and learn that way. A lot of tech influencers on social media, I'm taking my time to go through their pages and just see how I can rise as a computer science major and look for networking opportunities on LinkedIn with people who have similar experiences and have faced challenges. And then, also just looking at companies hiring for software engineering, for operations engineers, for systems engineers. There's also research that you can do in different fields, AI, cybersecurity. I'm also trying to attend conferences over the summer. I am going to attend a conference in July that focuses on the growth of AI, and hopefully gain more exposure.

In my personal life, I think resilience is a very big part of who I am, because I've gone through so much, but I always find a way to bounce back, and I don't sit in bad things for too long, because bad things don't last forever. Early this year, I lost my best friend, and it's hard really hard , but I realized resilience is key. Loyalty is another value I think is important. You should be loyal to people in your life, yes, but you should also be loyal to yourself and have a boundary for what you can take and what you can't take, and your likes and dislikes, and what it is that you want for yourself. So being loyal to yourself in terms of your goals and what you want to accomplish, never settle. And then another one is patience. Good things come to those who wait is actually really true, and I see it more as I'm a young adult. It's important to be patient, especially with the type of world that we live in right now. Professionally, I'd say just working smart is something that I think is important. Another value I hold is definitely working hard. And I don't know if this is a value, but never giving up.