The path that brought me here was never straight, and that's what makes it mine.
I grew up in the midwest with a curiosity that never quite fit the mold. From an early age I felt drawn to things that were unfamiliar: other languages, other cultures, other ways of seeing the world. I didn't fully understand why at the time, but looking back, I was already searching for something.
I studied East Asian Languages & Cultures at Indiana University with a focus on Mandarin Chinese. In 2012 I did an intensive language immersion course at the ICLP program at National Taiwan University. In 2013, as a Fulbright-Hayes Scholar, I studied six weeks of intensive Mandarin and pedagogy at National Minzu University of China in Beijing, then traveled to Pingjiang County in Hunan Province for an educational exchange. I lived with a multigenerational family of tea farmers and taught English, P.E. and theatre classes at the local elementary school, all in Mandarin.
From 2014 to 2015, I lived in Nanjing as a direct-enroll international student at Nanjing University, completing my Capstone Year in the Chinese Language Flagship program. I interned at Librairie Avant-Garde (Xianfeng Shudian), a famous local bookstore where I explored my love of Chinese literature, and did translation work for professors at Nanjing University.
After graduating, I worked as a Mandarin-qualified flight attendant at United Airlines for five years, traveling the world and developing the kind of adaptability you only get from navigating unfamiliar territory every single day. I also ran a marathon in Saitama, Japan, explored Mongolia by van, and walked the Great Wall.
There wasn't one single dramatic moment. It was a slow realization that had been building for years. I finally understood what I had been searching for all along. It wasn't a place, a career, or an adventure. It was me.
Beginning my transition as a trans woman was the hardest and most important thing I've ever done. It required the same courage I'd built from climbing mountains, living in foreign countries, and starting over from scratch, but this time turned inward.
What followed was a period of real growth. I found new strength on the rock face, in the codebase, and in the mirror. I learned that vulnerability is not weakness. It's the foundation of authenticity.
I pivoted into software engineering through Hack Reactor, channeling the same determination that carried me through my transition. Building things (systems, applications, a life that feels right) became my craft.
Today I'm a full-stack software engineer who brings her whole self to work. My non-traditional path through linguistics, aviation, world travel, and personal transformation gives me a perspective that no bootcamp or CS degree alone could.
When I'm not coding, you'll find me rock climbing, playing guitar, tending my garden, or fermenting something in the kitchen. I also taught Mandarin at a public elementary school in Louisville, Kentucky, bringing my love of the language full circle. I believe the best engineers are the ones who live fully and bring that richness to their work.
βWe have to be visible. We should not be ashamed of who we are.β
β Sylvia Rivera