Reflecting on my childhood, I deeply wish I had access to an initiative like Girls Who Code. As a teenager, I taught myself coding and design, using tools like FrontPage and Dreamweaver. Had a program like Girls Who Code been available, I would have seized the opportunity to engage wholeheartedly.

In the beginning of my professional career, I was given the opportunity to mentor high school students in New York, New Jersey, and remotely across the United States, I embraced the chance to contribute to the development of young girls interested in technology.

My focus at the time was developing MVP and Lean Methodologies, but the course I developed and taught aimed to enrich the students’ understanding of User Experience (UX), User Storytelling, and Prototyping within those frameworks.

With only 60 minutes per session, my goal was to create a comprehensive and engaging experience that took students from the spark of an idea to its execution, making every minute count.

I was consistently impressed by the creativity and ingenuity of the girls I worked with. Each session brought forth a new set of innovative ideas, presented with detailed wireframes or prototypes. I was amazed at their ability to flesh out complete concepts in such a short time. I truly hope they continued to develop and pursue their ideas.

I am also grateful to Microsoft for their generosity in donating swag and providing additional products for the students. Their support added an extra layer of excitement and motivation to the program.