User:Gabinaluz/Introducing myself
Introduction
[edit]Hello, everyone! I'm Gabina, a software engineer (among other things!) from Argentina.
I studied Computer Science in the National University of Rosario (in the city of Rosario, Santa Fe, Argentina).
While I always loved math, I discovered the programming during the high school: I had a subject in which we learned a bit of C++. My story with Computer Science was love at first sight! After that first contact, I decided to continue learning in the University, and my experience during those years was incredible.
What inspires me
[edit]One of the most interesting things I found in the CS world is the sense of community that we have: I found it in the local Computer Science Department on my university, in the popularity of stackoverflow forum, in the concept of Free Software itself... There is a very strong feeling that knowledge should be shared, that helping is the natural way of relating, and that heroes are often anonymous.
On the other hand, I think that creativity is one of the most beautiful skills you can develop on this field! As Noam Chomsky said in "The False Promise of ChatGPT", true intelligence is demonstrated in the ability to think and express improbable but insightful things. Creativity was fundamental to all the great inventions of mankind, and will never go out of fashion.
Lastly, I really believe in asking: there are no foolish questions! First of all, asking accurate and detailed questions may make you realize that you indeed already know the answer. In addition, keep asking yourself why you are doing what you are doing, how and what for, helps not to be eaten by inertia, and to be conscious of your actions.
Outreachy
[edit]For context, Outreachy provides internships in open source and open science. Outreachy provides internships to people subject to systemic bias and impacted by underrepresentation in the technical industry where they are living.
Although I did not personally know anyone who had participated in Outreachy, I had heard of some great experiences from colleagues about GSOC. I thought Outreachy might be a good opportunity to start contributing to free software communities and, in particular, to Wikimedia (of which I am a big fan!). Luckily I found a project that I loved, and a mentor who was very helpful.