I had been working at Meta for ~8 months when my manager brought up the conversation about my first promotion. This didn’t mean I was promoted, it meant my manager and I were going to work together to make sure I met all the requirements to move to the next level. Ten months after having this conversation, I earned my first promotion. It took a total of 1.5 years as a new grad, Software Engineer I at Meta to become a Software Engineer II. This is a realistic timeline for working towards a promotion. For early levels, getting promoted can take anywhere between one to two years as you gain expe ..read more

As I see the progress of our first home being completed, I couldn’t help but feel thankful for being financially intelligent when I started earning my own money. And because of that, I need to give credit where credit is due – my fiancé taught me everything I know today about personal finance. Because of him and his teachings, we were instantly approved for a home loan of double what we were asking for and were able to give a 20% down payment on our first home at only 23. Disclaimer: There’s many ways to handle your finances. Different techniques work for different people – I’m only sharing wh ..read more

Lately I’ve been feeling extremely grateful and humbled by all the women who have followed me on this journey. Especially for those who have reached out to share their own stories and how my story made a difference in theirs. That’s what inspired this blog post. This post is dedicated to the women who are considering starting this journey, to the women who are trying to find their way and to the women who are fighting the odds in the big world of tech. I’ve been there, every single stage. I’ve been the one considering switching to tech while on a different career path. I’ve been the one trying ..read more

3 years ago, I moved to Chicago for a summer to complete an internship. If you haven’t read that blog post, it’s linked here. It was my first time moving and living away from home, I had never been so far away from my family and it was my first professional job in engineering. I was actually getting paid to code. Imagine my nerves walking in on the first day! When I think back on that time of my life, I am so thankful for how brave I was. I’m not sure what gave me the confidence to move across the country and walk into the corporate world but I’m so thankful that I did. There comes a time in y ..read more

Here is something that’s rarely discussed: the real world post-grad. You’ve been so comfortable living the life of a student. You have every excuse to live at home, avoid paying bills, not have a real world job because you’re focusing on school. When people ask what you do, you say “I’m a student,” and that answer is as good as any. But, once you’ve graduated, you shift into a new lifestyle that you haven’t experienced in 15+ years… you’re no longer a student.  Welcome to life after college. Welcome to the plethora of opportunities and future experiences that aren’t available to you while ..read more

Well, it’s here. You asked for it! My journey to Facebook, part 1. A year ago, summer 2020, I interned at Facebook as a Software Engineer. Wow, it’s been a year and saying that I interned at Facebook still sounds unreal. Let’s start at the way beginning. How did I even get this opportunity? Well, to be completely honest, I never thought a company like Facebook would notice me. I was a student with not the best GPA trying to survive computer science courses at The University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP). I had already completed my 1st Software Engineering internship at Allstate but I still didn’t ..read more

Three out of five of my internships have been remote. Remote work is harder on an intern because we tend to rely on support and asking questions. I had to explore different methods to interact with my peers and make remote work enjoyable. After 1 year of working from home, I’ve nailed down how to make the best out of it. This can apply to anyone working remotely. Here are 5 tips that have helped me during my time working from home. Make your bed. Yes, you read that right. It sounds so simple but to start your work day off right, you need to make your bed. This will set the tone for the rest of ..read more

Well, this is it. My undergraduate journey has come to an end. On May 15th 2021, I walked across the stage and earned a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science with a minor in Mathematics from The University of Texas at El Paso. I still can’t believe it. Sometimes I still feel like the student in CS1 (the first computer science course) trying to understand for loops. This journey took me 5 years, 1 major change, 5 internships and many bumps along the way. It took overcoming feelings of doubt, “I don’t belong here” thoughts, several rejection emails and long study nights. These are the reasons ..read more

One of the most commonly asked questions I’ve received is how do I stay motivated. Well, allow me to let you in on a little secret… I am not always motivated. Motivation comes and goes. If you only work towards your goals, get tasks done or start your day when you’re feeling motivated then you’d only have 1-2 productive days out of 7 days a week. Here’s a quote from one of my favorite books: “I don’t know when we all bought into the idea that in order to change you must “feel” eager or “feel” motivated to act. It’s complete garbage. The moment it’s time to assert yourself, you will not feel m ..read more

A few weeks ago, I celebrated my very first Metaversary! That’s what we call a work anniversary at Meta. I couldn’t be happier to have completed 1 year at this amazing company. Time flew by! It feels like just yesterday I was nervous about interviewing. In only 1 year, I’ve learned and grown so much as an engineer, team member and contributor. I put together a list of What I Learned After 1 Year at Meta + Things I Wish I Knew when I started this full time job post-grad. Let’s jump right into it! 1. Take time to ramp up Ramping up is the time you dedicate to understanding what your team does, w ..read more