It was about time!
Introducing myself, my mission, and what you can expect from my Substack!
Welcome!
Hey there! So glad to have you here.
My name is Ume Habiba and I’ve been posting content for a while now. I originally started social media due to my personal experience being a computer science student at a Top 10 CS school. From the gatekeepy culture, the lack of resources for struggling/underrepresented students, to even the tenured yet sexist professors—my experience was nothing short of unpleasant.
That’s why I started sharing my experience online. From the countless failures and rejections to even the software engineering internships and full time offers I landed, I wanted to show people that despite the challenges, you can do it. That despite the constant microaggressions, you could embrace your femininity in a field that is largely male dominated. I wanted to show why having different voices at the table matters.
Since my freshman year of college, I’ve gotten to intern at J.P Morgan, Estee Lauder Companies, Cisco, and Microsoft all as a software engineer. Half of them without even being a CS major (yes, I dropped CS lol).
I’ve also gotten to complete other internships across the EdTech sector in marketing and curriculum roles, to even serving as a designated co-host for a speaker series hosted by a non-profit.
At just 23 years old, I’ve spoken across various stages all across the world. From my local community in Baltimore, my alma mater at the University of Maryland, to even the TED stage in Canada, my experience has been nothing short of extraordinary to say the least.
But my favorite part of what I do? Showing that despite where you come from, you truly can do it all.
Why Substack?
After providing resources and opportunities to my community via my Instagram for over a year now and being asked for my insider tips and tricks for landing a tech role in today’s economy, I thought, what better way to consolidate all of that than to put it all into a newsletter!
I’m looking to create a community that is driven. Driven by curiosity and driven by change.
Every week, I’ll be putting out a newsletter featuring either a story from my personal life, a close friend’s, or even a community member’s. I want to share the good, the scary, the bad, and everything in between.
Tech is often times way too glamorized. I’m here to show you that, although it can open doors of opportunity, it also needs to be constantly checked and critiqued.
And don’t worry, I didn’t forget—you’ll also be getting a weekly list of internships + full-time roles too :)
Subscribe!
I’m so excited to have you here, and I can’t wait for what the future of this newsletter holds! :)
