My mother emigrated from Haiti in 1989 at the age of 15, all on her own. Her mother, my grandmother, worked for an upper-class Haitian family who just so happened to know a Haitian mother in the United States who needed a nanny for her three daughters. Though my grandmother had five children–my mother being the fourth child–she only had 2 daughters, my mother being the first girl she’d had. And so, my grandmother sent my mother to America in hopes of her living a better life. My mother didn’t know a lick of English when she first stepped foot on American soil. She was still a young girl at the time, navigating through an unfamiliar country and an unfamiliar language without the guidance of her mother and the warmth of her siblings. As I wade through my academic journey, I am reminded not only of the struggles my mother endured throughout her life, but also of the endless struggles that stretch across the generations of those who came before me. Though Haiti was the first Black republic and second independent country in the Western Hemisphere, the country and its people have faced constant exploitation at the hands of the French and American governments, and never had a chance to truly prosper. That is not to say that I do not discount my struggles in academia as insignificant, compared to what my ancestors faced–in a way, I consider myself privileged to even be experiencing these struggles: I am the first in my family to attend college. I pursue a degree in Computer Science to not only establish generational wealth and end the cycle of poverty and struggle that has plagued my ancestors, but to help those who come from a background such as mine.

I've always been interested in both STEM and the liberal arts–namely in the realm of game development. Growing up, I was big on video games, and always dreamed of working on my own game, whether it be as an independent developer or in an established game development company. However, the prospect of working in a STEM environment and attending college as a STEM major scared me off–as a black woman, these environments have historically excluded those like me. With these concerns weighing on my mind, I enrolled in Georgetown University as a French major, only to drop the major after one semester. Still, I was hesitant to pursue a STEM degree and declared a major in Psychology, while entertaining the thought of a Computer Science minor. I continued to struggle with the college experience: as a first-generation, low-income college student, I came into college not knowing how difficult the college journey would be and struggled mentally as a result. Despite opposition from my family, I eventually decided to take the Fall 2022 semester off, even as worries swam around in the back of my mind: how would I ensure that I stayed disciplined and learned something during this leave of absence? How would I engage with others socially and stay involved with organizations on campus? How would I support myself financially, given that my family would not be supporting me financially during this time? It was during this time away that I decided to finally take the plunge and declare a major in Computer Science. In my time away from Georgetown, I took an online Programming in C++ class, found a job that allowed me to develop my social skills, and found different organizations that will support my tech journey for years to come, such as Rewriting the Code and Colorstack. I hesitated in pursuing a Computer Science degree because of my identity as a Black, Latina woman. But I underestimated just how many resources there are out there to support people like me–people from historically marginalized groups interested in diversifying the tech industry. I am not only majoring in Computer Science to establish generational wealth and ensure a financially comfortable future for myself and my family: I am also doing it for the Black, Latina women who will come after me. Those who are interested in STEM, but are afraid of the lack of diversity. I am doing it to advocate for the fair, equal treatment of those with disabilities. In today's world, where technology has an iron grip on our very livelihoods, it is important to ensure that there are people like me in the room: people making important decisions that have an everlasting effect on how we live our lives. I wish to stand as an example for the generations of Black, Latina women who come after me: though our representation in liberal arts fields has steadily begun to increase, our representation in STEM fields still leaves much to be desired. And so, I pursue a degree in Computer Science not only to be the first in my family to graduate from college with a STEM degree–and the first to graduate from college overall–but I also pursue a degree in Computer Science to make first-generation, low-income, Black, Latina presences known in spaces that have historically excluded those with my identities.