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That somewhat explains what happened to me last November. Despite the leaps of progress for women after centuries of denial of opportunities, and after getting to a breaking point with many tragic humanitarian issues in the country, a huge portion of the U.S. decided they didn't care about other people.\u0026nbsp;One person really hurt me by saying, \"It's not like someone died,\" but to me, it felt like an expansive death sentence or at the very least a huge, selfish, \"We utterly don't care about you\" directed at millions of people that would result in harmful policy and ongoing discrimination and tragedy. I didn't just feel my own pain; I felt the weight of widespread devastation. And what can one say when they can't breathe and they've been told their voice doesn't matter?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI'm amazed that despite the heavy burden of constant terrible news over the last year, many people have been able to process quickly and get enough breath to raise strong voices in opposition. I'm just now starting to feel like I can feel around in the dark for my voice, but only because I've been guiltily using my privilege to mute a lot of the constant influx of bad news. All I've been able to do for the last year is focus my energy on building \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/techtonica.org\/\"\u003Ea program\u003C\/a\u003E that empowers people who have even fewer privileges under the current administration. It's so, so hard, but I care so, so much about this important cause."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/feeds\/6794963376523751494\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2017\/12\/fumbling-for-words.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/6794963376523751494"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/6794963376523751494"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2017\/12\/fumbling-for-words.html","title":"Fumbling for Words"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Michelle Glauser"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112768120951388331511"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-FvkXs2LeEWM\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAS-w\/9ATBMycwA5Y\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31849511.post-4633374609912313317"},"published":{"$t":"2014-05-29T08:10:00.000-07:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-06-03T11:15:24.429-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"Asia"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"technology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"women"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"work"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"Tech and Me in Shanghai"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"Right from the start of our time in Shanghai in August, I was interested in helping more women join tech; I was in touch with \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.girldevelopit.com\/\"\u003EGirl Develop It\u003C\/a\u003E about starting a chapter, but after around December, I never heard back from them. By the time \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.womenwhocode.com\/\"\u003EWomenWhoCode\u003C\/a\u003E was in touch with me, I felt like it was too late and wished I had contacted them first. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELuckily, I still had several tech opportunities. First of all, as I had time, I worked on re-designing my blog (though \u003Ci\u003Ethat\u003C\/i\u003E is a project that may \u003Ci\u003Enever\u003C\/i\u003E be finished because I want it to be just right).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2013-10-26172103_zps68544633.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Barcamp Shanghai Fall 2013 photo 2013-10-26172103_zps68544633.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2013-10-26172103_zps68544633.jpg\" height=\"480\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAt Barcamp Shanghai in October (put on by \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.techyizu.org\/\"\u003ETechyizu\u003C\/a\u003E), I spoke about\/held a discussion about women in tech and my story.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMichael filmed me:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ciframe allowfullscreen=\"\" frameborder=\"0\" height=\"315\" src=\"\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/JffZTSFC9lU\" width=\"560\"\u003E\u003C\/iframe\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E(How do you like that guy going on and on about how too many women on a team make so nothing gets done? Uh, okay . . . my on-the-spot responses to him weren't great. I think really there just needs to be more understanding about how to work with both genders rather than just always working with the team we feel most comfortable getting stuff done with.) \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI had planned on finding a full-time job in Shanghai, but I worried  that working full-time would mean I wouldn't be working on  learning Chinese, which was the real reason I wanted to live in China,  and also, honestly, I worried that my still-very-junior dev skills  weren't good enough (technical interviews can be freaking scary!).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOne  company I started to interview at seemed pretty awesome (I was excited  about being able to learn and work with Angular.js), but the non-Chinese  CEO sat me down after he heard my salary requirements and talked to me  about how they were way too high for China. Together with another  foreign tech employee, he explained that junior developers in Shanghai  make about 3,000 kuai per month (about $500), foreign or local, and that if I could go with  around that then we could continue the hiring process. I told him I'd  think about it and the employee invited me to lunch where he assured me  that those were normal amounts for Shanghai. I was nevertheless a bit  doubtful, especially once I realized that the least-expensive studios  we'd looked at cost more than 3,000 per month. Then I talked to  Michael's cousin, who had been a developer in Shanghai for a while, and  he said, \"No, that's just a Chinese guy trying to pull one over on you.  You could probably make 15,000 or more per month.\" Imagine his surprise when I  told him that the guy wasn't Chinese . . . I didn't go back there.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn November, I introduced the Hult Women in Business Club to HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn December, I organized a \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.co.uk\/2013\/12\/first-railsbridge-shanghai-china.html\"\u003ERailsBridge\u003C\/a\u003E HTML\/CSS\/JavaScript workshop for women. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-02-11163440_zps3c1872d3.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Teaching Git to Jenny photo 2014-02-11163440_zps3c1872d3.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-02-11163440_zps3c1872d3.jpg\" height=\"640\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI met many times from October to May with a woman named Jenny (who became a good friend) to teach her some tech skills, including HTML, CSS, JavaScript, git, and a tiny bit of python.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI planned on organizing another RailsBridge workshop and making a weekly JavaScript study group, but without being able to find a location and sponsors (asking for money and space is not my favorite thing to do), and with a lot of other things to do (always), those things didn't happen.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMichael's cousin introduced me to these really cool Taiwanese guys  working on some intriguing projects. I showed them what I'd done before,  and without a technical interview, they agreed to start me at nearly  triple what the other company had offered and go up from there after a  three-month review. Unfortunately, all of this solidified when we had only  about four months left, and I felt bad jumping in to their  company and getting a lot of training, only to leave, so I turned it  down. Once again, though, two big factors were the fear of getting  detracted from learning Chinese and my fear of not being good enough  (impostor syndrome, grr). A third, more embarrassing factor was that I found out I'd have to get another, more complete physical for a work visa and that freaked the heck out of me.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-02-18at82119AM_zpsd2fe89b2.png.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Revive Website photo ScreenShot2014-02-18at82119AM_zpsd2fe89b2.png\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-02-18at82119AM_zpsd2fe89b2.png\" height=\"432\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EInstead, for a couple of months at the start of the year, I worked on making a website for \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/congratulations-to-michaels-hult-prize.html\"\u003EMichael's Hult Prize team's organization: Revive\u003C\/a\u003E using some technologies I hadn't used before. This is what \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/operationrevive.org\/\"\u003Ethe main page\u003C\/a\u003E ended up looking like. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EIn April, while I was recovering from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2014\/04\/sun-and-sunburn-in-philippines.html\"\u003Emy horrible sunburn\u003C\/a\u003E, a friend from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.meetup.com\/People-can-Code-Shanghai\/\"\u003EPeople Can Code Shanghai\u003C\/a\u003E texted me, saying that he had some friends looking for some front-end skills and asking if I knew of anyone. I told him I may be able to give it a shot and I'd like to hear more details. It turns out that these two guys had an idea for a foodie app, and since they were accepted to \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.chinaccelerator.com\/\"\u003EChinaccelerator\u003C\/a\u003E (an intensive accelerator program for startups located at The Lighthouse in Shanghai), they were in need of someone in a hurry and were willing to pay wages closer to American wages. After we spent a lot of time comparing our favorite foods to bake and our favorite restaurants and bakeries in Shanghai, they said they'd like to have me work with them. Again, impostor syndrome had me scared even though I knew that this would be a good opportunity for me—to learn quickly, to earn some money, to get out of my misery about having \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/looking-for-place-to-live-in-shanghai.html\"\u003Efailed at creating a positive Shanghai experience\u003C\/a\u003E . . . and somehow I was able to talk myself into it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAnd so I started working on ChiShen.Ma, which happily was flexible in many ways. Working with even-headed, hard-working, smart Rem  was great. When it was clear that getting into the office was quite a long journey that was wasting the little time we had to get the app launched, he said I could just work from home, where I felt like I could focus and get more done anyway, and when I was needed in the office, he offered to pay for a taxi to speed things up a bit. He let me choose the tech stack, so I chose to build a Django back-end, and though ChiShen.Ma will eventually be a hybrid app, we started out with a mobile web app using jQuery Mobile, meaning the \"app\" is a website (accessed via a browser) that looks like a phone app.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-04-18183213_zpsbaa4d503.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"First Payment for ChiShenMa photo 2014-04-18183213_zpsbaa4d503.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-04-18183213_zpsbaa4d503.jpg\" height=\"640\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EThe first paycheck ChiShen.Ma paid went to yours truly. Notice the mixed currency. Also, this was the first time I've seen the new, blu-ish dollar bills (\"bluebacks?\").\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-05-09183451_zps4b272f4a.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Chinaccelerator at The Lighthouse photo 2014-05-09183451_zps4b272f4a.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2014-05-09183451_zps4b272f4a.jpg\" height=\"480\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis is The Lighthouse on Changping Lu, where Chinaccelerator's office is.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAs with any project, I butted my head against unexpected barriers every  single day and as the only engineer, there were times when my resilience wore out and I felt \u003Cs\u003Ebashed into the ground\u003C\/s\u003E discouraged, but the successes were great, and I was able to earn some moola for  our rent in London. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThe most unique part of the app is what Rem calls the \"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/chishenma.herokuapp.com\/help_me_decide\/\"\u003EDecide-o-matic\u003C\/a\u003E,\" where you can swipe pictures to sort them into piles of likes and not-likes. Getting the right library in place for this took waaaaaaay longer than any of us could have guessed. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-05-26at62153PM_zpsc105df51.png.html\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"ChiShen.Ma Swiper photo ScreenShot2014-05-26at62153PM_zpsc105df51.png\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-05-26at62153PM_zpsc105df51.png\" height=\"400\" width=\"278\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-05-26at64102PM_zps0a1cbda0.png.html\" style=\"clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"ChiShen.Ma Restaurant List photo ScreenShot2014-05-26at64102PM_zps0a1cbda0.png\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/ScreenShot2014-05-26at64102PM_zps0a1cbda0.png\" height=\"400\" width=\"275\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENow that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.techinasia.com\/chinaccelerator-batch-5-demo-day-startups\/\"\u003ERem and Ryan have demoed the ChiShen.Ma app\u003C\/a\u003E, things are a bit up in the air as the search for funding takes off. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EWriting this post makes me feel better about my time in Shanghai. We'll see what I get to work on next."},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/feeds\/4633374609912313317\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/tech-and-me-in-shanghai.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/4633374609912313317"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/4633374609912313317"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2014\/05\/tech-and-me-in-shanghai.html","title":"Tech and Me in Shanghai"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Michelle Glauser"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112768120951388331511"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-FvkXs2LeEWM\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAS-w\/9ATBMycwA5Y\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"0"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Shanghai, China"},"georss$point":{"$t":"31.230416 121.473701"},"georss$box":{"$t":"29.493447000000003 118.891914 32.967385 124.05548800000001"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31849511.post-3749872233598368232"},"published":{"$t":"2013-12-17T18:43:00.001-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-06-14T11:37:31.329-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"technology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"women"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"The First-Ever RailsBridge Workshop for Women in China"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/s191.photobucket.com\/user\/MichemilyG\/media\/Blog\/2012-07-21163424_zpscebabc55.jpg.html\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"My First RailsBridge Event, at Code America, 21 July 2012 photo 2012-07-21163424_zpscebabc55.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/2012-07-21163424_zpscebabc55.jpg\" height=\"298\" width=\"400\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EMy first-ever RailsBridge--at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/codeforamerica.org\/\"\u003ECode for America\u003C\/a\u003E in July 2012.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ERailsBridge has been a great help to me in the last year and a half (as have many other tech-for-women groups), and, as you can see \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.meetup.com\/sfruby\/events\/97768552\/?action=detail\u0026amp;trax_also_in_algorithm2=original\u0026amp;eventId=97768552\u0026amp;traxDebug_also_in_algorithm2_picked=original\"\u003Ehere\u003C\/a\u003E, I promised to pay it forward some day. So I organized a workshop in Shanghai!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ENot only was this my first time organizing a RailsBridge event, it is, as far as I know, also the first time for a RailsBridge event in China. Hurray! \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere is what \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.bridgetroll.org\/events\/70\/\"\u003Ethe BridgeTroll sign-up page\u003C\/a\u003E said:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EWant to learn website development? Or want to help more women join tech?\u003C\/h2\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/railsbridge.org\/\"\u003E\u003Cb\u003ERailsBridge\u003C\/b\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E is a free, open-source workshop  that is intended to reach out mainly to women who are interested in  learning web development. This is the first RailsBridge workshop in  Shanghai, so we're starting on beginning front-end (the part you see)  web development, specifically HTML, CSS, and JavaScript (we will be  doing a back-end Ruby workshop in the future). Men are allowed to sign  up as students if they sign up with a woman.\u0026nbsp;\u0026nbsp; \u003C\/blockquote\u003E\u003Cblockquote class=\"tr_bq\"\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis workshop will be led in English, but we hope to  have Chinese-speaking volunteers who can help as needed. Students  should bring a laptop that already has Sublime Text (or another text  editor downloaded onto it). It is also useful, but optional, to have  Google Chrome. As with all RailsBridge events, we will make an effort to  provide childcare if needed.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHULT International Business School is most easily  accessible from the People's Square Metro stop, exit 14. Map:  https:\/\/maps.google.com\/maps\/ms?msid=214705170228158071651.0004ebfaf5744b0203513\u0026amp;msa=0 \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPlease contact Michelle Glauser if you  have any related ideas or questions, or if you know of a company  interested in hosting and\/or sponsoring this and\/or other other  workshops.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EThis is the tentative schedule:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E9:00-9:45 AM - Volunteer-only get-to-know-you and tip-sharing \u003Cbr \/\u003E10:00 - 10:30 AM - Student registration, breakfast (hopefully we can find a sponsor to provide food) \u003Cbr \/\u003E10:30 - 11:00 AM - Opening presentation, sorting into levels \u003Cbr \/\u003E11:00 AM - 12:30 PM - Groups work on curriculum \u003Cbr \/\u003E1:00 PM - 2:00 PM - Lunch (hopefully we can find a sponsor to provide food)  \u003Cbr \/\u003E2:00 PM - 3:30 PM Back to work \u003Cbr \/\u003E3:30 PM - 4:00 PM Regroup, recap, clean up \u003Cbr \/\u003E4:00 PM - Optional after-event at nearby Tock's Deli (during Happy  Hour) at 221 Henan Zhong Lu\/河南中路221号 (hopefully we can find a sponsor to  provide a food or drink reward for the volunteers--students may attend,  but they pay for everything on their own)\u003Cbr \/\u003ETell your friends!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EVolunteer Details\u003C\/h2\u003EBe sure to review the curriculum before the workshop: http:\/\/curriculum.railsbridge.org\/frontend\/frontend\u003Cbr \/\u003EIt is also helpful to go over this teacher training:  \u003Cbr \/\u003Ehttp:\/\/curriculum.railsbridge.org\/workshop\/teacher_training\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ch2\u003EStudent Details\u003C\/h2\u003EAll students need to bring a laptop and a  power cord. Please download Sublime Text (or another text editor) before  you arrive. We also recommend having Google Chrome. \u003C\/blockquote\u003EItems of note:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EI struggled to get a sponsor for food and supplies, even though I kept the cost super low.  I budgeted 1500 RMB (about $250). I'm still hoping to find  sponsors for future events.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWe  had 10 volunteers and 26 students sign up. There were 8 volunteers and  17 students who actually came. That's 80% volunteer show-ups and 65%  student show-ups (that's an average of 69%, which is almost exactly the  percentage the \u003Ca href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/railsbridge\/docs\/wiki\/Cookbook\"\u003EWorkshop Cookbook\u003C\/a\u003E predicted). There were 4 male students  signed up, but only 2 showed up.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWe had typical Chinese food for breakfast: tea and baozi (Chinese dumplings--”包子“）\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ELunch  was sandwiches, juice, and soda (I think we'll avoid soda in the future--it was barely touched). The one vegetarian didn't sign up until the  night before, so we already had our order in for meat sandwiches and  totally forgot about getting him something. Oops. Luckily there were  veggie baozi left over.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ESome  of the volunteers seemed nervous about teaching, so we went over \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/curriculum.railsbridge.org\/workshop\/teacher_training\"\u003Ethe RailsBridge teacher slides\u003C\/a\u003E one hour before the event started, but they blew me away  with how well they were able to teach. \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThis was a front-end  workshop, split into three groups. Every class used the RailsBridge  curriculum itself less than I would have expected, but whatever they did  seemed to work.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThings started to drag about  the last 30 minutes of class, and people started going home before we  wrapped things up communally. Ooops. Maybe we should have had one more  break or ended a little earlier.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEveryone who stayed to talk seemed really positive about the experience and interested in future events.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ENo one wanted to go to the after-party, so sweet(!), we saved money and I could go home an hour earlier than planned. :)\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EI was able to finally find out about a Chinese developer meetup (as opposed to the expat meetups I've been attending). Yay!\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EHere are a few of my favorite pictures (you can see the rest of the photos from \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/sets\/72157638715327564\/\"\u003ERailsBridge Shanghai #1 here\u003C\/a\u003E). \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11394064823\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.37.27 Sign-in desk--Michael Tsai by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.37.27 Sign-in desk--Michael Tsai\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7423\/11394064823_ac07380d59.jpg\" height=\"500\" width=\"375\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E \u003Cbr \/\u003EThis busy guy was super nice and helped with set-up, signing-in, food, and clean-up.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11393953716\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.22.31 Level 2 Shobhit S. by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.22.31 Level 2 Shobhit S.\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5533\/11393953716_d2827ec040.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EShobhit is apparently secretly \"a CSS king.\"\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11393982484\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.20.07 Level 2--Allen Wyma (People Can Code Shanghai meetup organizer) by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.20.07 Level 2--Allen Wyma (People Can Code Shanghai meetup organizer)\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5509\/11393982484_80e18ca009.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHere's Allen Wyma (co-organizer of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.meetup.com\/People-can-Code-Shanghai\/\"\u003EPeople Can Code Shanghai Meetups\u003C\/a\u003E).\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11394082453\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.16.33 Level 1 by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.16.33 Level 1\" src=\"http:\/\/farm4.staticflickr.com\/3676\/11394082453_b38fefe309.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EMichael Shi was a great TA and teacher!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11393987224\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.16.41 Level 1 Tony Perea by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.16.41 Level 1 Tony Perea\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7321\/11393987224_a832d5637f.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELanguage barrier? What language barrier? Go, Tony!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11393963106\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 11.17.43 Level 3 by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 11.17.43 Level 3\" src=\"http:\/\/farm6.staticflickr.com\/5510\/11393963106_4591686ec5.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EPeace from Yun in Level 3.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.flickr.com\/photos\/90021443@N08\/11394792294\/\" title=\"2013-12-15 13.33.33 Lukasz Muzyka (People Can Code organizer) amusing students and volunteers alike by MichelleGlauser, on Flickr\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"2013-12-15 13.33.33 Lukasz Muzyka (People Can Code organizer) amusing students and volunteers alike\" src=\"http:\/\/farm8.staticflickr.com\/7331\/11394792294_e2ed84fcb2.jpg\" height=\"375\" width=\"500\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ELukasz Muzyka (co-organizer of \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.meetup.com\/People-can-Code-Shanghai\/\"\u003EPeople Can Code Shanghai Meetups\u003C\/a\u003E) amused volunteers and students alike.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESuccess! I hope I can get some more workshops together and build a great women-in-tech workshop network around here.\u0026nbsp; "},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/feeds\/3749872233598368232\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/first-railsbridge-shanghai-china.html#comment-form","title":"3 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/3749872233598368232"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/3749872233598368232"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/first-railsbridge-shanghai-china.html","title":"The First-Ever RailsBridge Workshop for Women in China"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Michelle Glauser"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112768120951388331511"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-FvkXs2LeEWM\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAS-w\/9ATBMycwA5Y\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/th_2012-07-21163424_zpscebabc55.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"3"},"georss$featurename":{"$t":"Shanghai, China"},"georss$point":{"$t":"31.230416 121.473701"},"georss$box":{"$t":"29.493447000000003 118.891914 32.967385 124.05548800000001"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31849511.post-3916826468033877757"},"published":{"$t":"2013-12-16T08:07:00.000-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2016-04-28T12:52:42.272-07:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"technology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"women"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"work"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"21 Reasons Why Tech is a Great Field for Women"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"blogher_content\"\u003E\u003Cscript src=\"http:\/\/ads.blogherads.com\/61\/6125\/campaigns\/14\/1435\/1435538\/x90.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.blogher.com\/clicktracker.php?nid=1435538\u0026amp;cid=1435433\u0026amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fs191.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2FMichemilyG%2Fmedia%2FBlog%2F2013-06-19102652_zpsffe8d59f.jpg.html\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"Working at Get Satisfaction photo 2013-06-19102652_zpsffe8d59f.jpg\" border=\"0\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/2013-06-19102652_zpsffe8d59f.jpg\" height=\"640\" width=\"480\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EThis is the life you want.\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EAfter \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/11\/how-i-abandoned-my-fears-and-got-into.html\"\u003Egetting over my fears and transitioning into tech\u003C\/a\u003E last year, I now have trouble not telling every woman that she should do the same. Why do I think that tech is such a great field for women? Here are 21 reasons:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003E\u003Col\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBelieve it or not, it's creative! You get to make ideas come alive.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere are so many different roles that I believe you can always find a niche for you within the world of tech, whether it be front end web development, software engineering, big data, internet security, project management, tech support, technical writing, or something else.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EEvery field in the world needs people to run its tech.\u0026nbsp; If the medical field interests you, do tech for them. If working on improving life third-world countries interests you, contribute there with your tech skills. If you love phone game apps, build them. \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is a huge need for techies worldwide, so there is a lot of opportunity. Many people believe that providing women a pathway into tech will help women and whole families make their way out of poverty.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EYour work is not only a career, it's a cause. The number of women in tech has \u003Ci\u003Edecreased\u003C\/i\u003E since the 1980s! By going into tech, you have the chance to forge a path for girls' careers in the future and support your sisters now. \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMost people looking for people to work in tech care less about official education, personality, and looks, and more about skills and the determination to figure something out. To make learning tech even better is the fact that \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/03\/resources-for-learning-to-code-and.html\"\u003Ea lot of what you need to learn can be easily accessed online\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EWorking in tech is your chance to prove the stereotypes of men being better-suited to tech wrong.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EAs \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/skillcrush.com\/2012\/11\/19\/we-need-more-women-in-tech-heres-why\/\"\u003EAudrey Tan wrote\u003C\/a\u003E, \"The rise of the Internet and its impact on the global economy has  already proven itself. It has defined our generation. But we are just  at the starting gate. If we as women fail to be involved in the  formation of an industry, we prevent ourselves from being the future  leaders of that industry. It is better, easier and far more likely to  grow with an industry than it is to break into it.\"\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is a growing, very supportive network of champions for women in tech.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EMen aren't the only ones using technology, but they form the majority of people developing tech. There is a great need for more women's voices to cater to women's needs in tech products.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EBecause companies are aware of the low numbers of female engineers being employed, they are always on the lookout for women. This means that they are more flexible in their work terms and you feel empowered. \u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EYou just need a computer and the internet to work in tech, so where you work is very flexible.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf you're an introvert like I am and need some space to survive, no one will be surprised or put off when you put on headphones and pretend the world is not there.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETech is always evolving. You aren't expected to know everything from the start, and a good deal of your work will be figuring out new things. You will never stop learning, so your work doesn't get old.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EPay is good, especially compared to women's pay in non-tech jobs.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe gender wage gap is smaller between men and women in computer science.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThere is virtually no dead end to tech; the world is your oyster.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EGenerally, dress codes are pretty lax in tech. (Yay! No \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/url?sa=t\u0026amp;rct=j\u0026amp;q=\u0026amp;esrc=s\u0026amp;source=web\u0026amp;cd=1\u0026amp;cad=rja\u0026amp;ved=0CC0QFjAA\u0026amp;url=%68%74%74%70%3a%2f%2f%6d%69%63%68%65%6c%6c%65%67%6c%61%75%73%65%72%2e%62%6c%6f%67%73%70%6f%74%2e%63%6f%6d%2f%32%30%30%37%2f%30%34%2f%6e%79%6c%6f%6e%73%2d%66%6c%61%6d%6d%61%62%69%6c%69%74%79%2e%68%74%6d%6c\u0026amp;ei=hjGYUovlBYn8oATZ54KgBg\u0026amp;usg=AFQjCNF6RCUG4Qt306DJNxA89jOVHH-hgA\u0026amp;sig2=4yGDd8XEJZHL5wS7XxfdaQ\u0026amp;bvm=bv.57155469,d.cGU\"\u003Enylons\u003C\/a\u003E!)\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003ETechies receive \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2012\/12\/swag-aka-bribery-as-hackbrighter.html\"\u003Elots of free swag\u003C\/a\u003E, including t-shirts (that you can then wear to work).\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EA lot of companies, especially startups, love to make a fun, positive lifestyle for their employees, whether that means \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/starving-samurai-42.tumblr.com\/\"\u003Eproviding catered lunches\u003C\/a\u003E and gym memberships,\u0026nbsp; having weekly happy hours, or keeping ping pong tables in the office.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EThe new generation of techie culture tends to be generous, open (ever heard of open-source software, open leadership, or open-plan offices?), and tolerant. LOVE.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ol\u003EHave I convinced you yet? \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/03\/resources-for-learning-to-code-and.html\"\u003EThe ways to get started are endless\u003C\/a\u003E. Go for it!\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EWhether you’re seeking further success in your current role or a new  opportunity, Kaplan University can help you prepare for the exciting  possibilities ahead.*\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAs an  accredited university built on more than 75 years of experience,† Kaplan  University offers a wide range of career-focused programs designed to  develop the skills and knowledge leading employers seek. Our focus: to  offer you the most direct educational path to achieve your goals.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAre you ready for a change? \u0026nbsp;Learn more at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/goo.gl\/ktzPQC\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: windowtext;\"\u003Ekaplanuniversity.edu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003E* Kaplan University cannot guarantee employment or career advancement.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Ci\u003E† Kaplan University is regionally accredited. Please visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kaplanuniversity.edu\/about\/accreditation-licensing.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003Ekaplanuniversity.edu\/about\/\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003Eaccreditation-licensing.aspx#\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003Efor additional information about institutional and programmatic accreditation.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cscript src=\"http:\/\/ads.blogherads.com\/61\/6125\/campaigns\/14\/1435\/1435538\/x92.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/feeds\/3916826468033877757\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/why-tech-is-great-for-women.html#comment-form","title":"0 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/3916826468033877757"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/3916826468033877757"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/why-tech-is-great-for-women.html","title":"21 Reasons Why Tech is a Great Field for Women"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Michelle Glauser"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112768120951388331511"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-FvkXs2LeEWM\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAS-w\/9ATBMycwA5Y\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"media$thumbnail":{"xmlns$media":"http://search.yahoo.com/mrss/","url":"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/th_2013-06-19102652_zpsffe8d59f.jpg","height":"72","width":"72"},"thr$total":{"$t":"0"}},{"id":{"$t":"tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-31849511.post-7804818616027565144"},"published":{"$t":"2013-12-11T07:00:00.000-08:00"},"updated":{"$t":"2014-01-16T18:51:28.465-08:00"},"category":[{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"technology"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"women"},{"scheme":"http://www.blogger.com/atom/ns#","term":"work"}],"title":{"type":"text","$t":"How I Abandoned My Fears and Got Into the Tech Job I Love"},"content":{"type":"html","$t":"\u003Cdiv class=\"blogher_content\"\u003E\u003Cscript src=\"http:\/\/ads.blogherads.com\/61\/6125\/campaigns\/14\/1435\/1435256\/x90.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ctable align=\"center\" cellpadding=\"0\" cellspacing=\"0\" class=\"tr-caption-container\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ctbody\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003E\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.blogher.com\/clicktracker.php?nid=1435256\u0026amp;cid=1426938\u0026amp;url=http%3A%2F%2Fs191.photobucket.com%2Fuser%2FMichemilyG%2Fmedia%2FBlog%2FChina%2520Time%2F2013-11-01160803_zps69fbde91.jpg.html\" style=\"margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cimg alt=\"What TVs Are Really For photo 2013-11-01160803_zps69fbde91.jpg\" border=\"0\" height=\"480\" src=\"http:\/\/i191.photobucket.com\/albums\/z72\/MichemilyG\/Blog\/China%20Time\/2013-11-01160803_zps69fbde91.jpg\" width=\"640\" \/\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003Ctr\u003E\u003Ctd class=\"tr-caption\" style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003EHow televisions should really be used.\u003C\/td\u003E\u003C\/tr\u003E\u003C\/tbody\u003E\u003C\/table\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESome days I can hardly believe that a year and a half ago, I was working at a job that didn't pay enough for me to pay rent, forcing me to rely on generous relatives. After struggling to figure out what I was doing for a couple of years after a Master's degree, I was relieved to finally have any income and I enjoyed working with a talented Italian, but the job seemed to be a dead-end one, and besides that, it wasn't at all what the job description had said; I had to do sales-type work, it was boring, it wasn't creative, and sometimes I felt like stabbing my eye out.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI tried to make the job fit its description by regularly putting content about the company in several places online and building a customer community, but the company engineers couldn't seem to complete anything so I'd have some good, original content. At one point, they were too busy to work on designing a website for a customer, so the COO and I started looking at website designs and he asked me to make a mockup. I didn't know how to do that, but I was fascinated by the idea and dedicated myself to learning by doing. My browser was soon overwhelmed with over 90 tabs as I started looking at tutorials for making Photoshop mockups, because I ran into more and more fascinating links about picking up tech skills.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EHowever, when I signed up for an intensive course for women to learn web development and was accepted, I still hesitated. I was scared.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI didn't want to disappoint my co-worker by quitting. I wasn't confident that I could learn tech skills quickly. I'd already gone a couple of years without what I would consider a real job and didn't want to feel like a non-contributing member of society again. Dedicating myself to learning tech full-time would mean not having an income; where would the means for food, transportation, insurance, and such come from? To make matters scarier, my relatives needed their basement back, so housing was unsure. Not only would I not be making money, I'd be going deeply in the hole to pay for rent and the course. Finally, I felt too old to make a complete career change. In other words, there was every excuse not to go for it.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESo why did I?\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ESomehow, despite all the doubts in my head, there were some ideas that refused to go away:\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cul\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIt was clear that I was more interested in techie stuff than in what I was doing. Even if I didn't end up liking the curriculum or the course didn't help launch me into a tech job, it was a way out.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EI learned to make a mockup pretty quickly, didn't I? Maybe it was possible for me to learn more.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EI realized that in the end, my career wasn't about always pleasing my co-worker; it was about finding some kind of satisfaction and being able to support myself, and I was underestimating him if I thought he wouldn't understand that.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIf I could find a way to fund this career change, I could get into a job that would enable me to pay it off and have a higher quality of living.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003Cli\u003EIt was better to make a change now than to suffer for years and try later.\u003C\/li\u003E\u003C\/ul\u003EIn moments of inspiration, I started to work things out, one by one. I got permission to work very part-time for a little while longer, meaning I'd still have a \u003Cspan style=\"text-decoration: line-through;\"\u003Eminuscule\u003C\/span\u003E small income and I didn't feel like I was letting down my coworker as much. I found quite the alternative way to temporarily finance an education break and get a discount on rent by getting married and becoming an apartment manager. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EOf course, with this transition of a lifetime and even with the support of a loving new husband, I still had fears, but it was those very fears that motivated me--if I didn't keep at it, I'd be in the hole even longer. If I gave up, I could be back in a job that sucked my life away without giving anything back. \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003EI am so glad that I went out on a limb to transition into tech. I like my work, I've found a supportive professional network, and the pay would have made my eyes pop out two years ago. If you are considering a career change and are fearful as I was, consider the future. How will it be if you stay where you are? How could it be if you were to overcome your fears? \u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003ETo any women even slightly interested in computers and the internet, I'd encourage you to move into tech without delay. Why tech? Stay tuned; I'll be addressing that question in a post next week.\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EWhether you’re seeking further success in your current role or a new  opportunity, Kaplan University can help you prepare for the exciting  possibilities ahead.*\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAs an  accredited university built on more than 75 years of experience,† Kaplan  University offers a wide range of career-focused programs designed to  develop the skills and knowledge leading employers seek. Our focus: to  offer you the most direct educational path to achieve your goals.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003EAre you ready for a change? \u0026nbsp;Learn more at \u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/goo.gl\/ktzPQC\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: windowtext;\"\u003Ekaplanuniversity.edu\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E.\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E* Kaplan University cannot guarantee employment or career advancement.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Ci\u003E† Kaplan University is regionally accredited. Please visit\u0026nbsp;\u003Ca href=\"http:\/\/www.kaplanuniversity.edu\/about\/accreditation-licensing.aspx\" target=\"_blank\"\u003E\u003Cspan style=\"color: windowtext; text-decoration: none;\"\u003Ehttp:\/\/www.\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003Ekaplanuniversity.edu\/about\/\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003Eaccreditation-licensing.aspx#\u003C\/span\u003E\u003C\/a\u003E\u0026nbsp;\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cwbr\u003E\u003C\/wbr\u003E\u003Ci\u003Efor additional information about institutional and programmatic accreditation.\u003C\/i\u003E\u003Cbr \/\u003E\u003Cscript src=\"http:\/\/ads.blogherads.com\/61\/6125\/campaigns\/14\/1435\/1435256\/x92.js\" type=\"text\/javascript\"\u003E\u003C\/script\u003E\u003C\/div\u003E"},"link":[{"rel":"replies","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/feeds\/7804818616027565144\/comments\/default","title":"Post Comments"},{"rel":"replies","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/abandoning-fears-for-a-new-career.html#comment-form","title":"2 Comments"},{"rel":"edit","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/7804818616027565144"},{"rel":"self","type":"application/atom+xml","href":"http:\/\/www.blogger.com\/feeds\/31849511\/posts\/default\/7804818616027565144"},{"rel":"alternate","type":"text/html","href":"http:\/\/michelleglauser.blogspot.com\/2013\/12\/abandoning-fears-for-a-new-career.html","title":"How I Abandoned My Fears and Got Into the Tech Job I Love"}],"author":[{"name":{"$t":"Michelle Glauser"},"uri":{"$t":"https:\/\/plus.google.com\/112768120951388331511"},"email":{"$t":"noreply@blogger.com"},"gd$image":{"rel":"http://schemas.google.com/g/2005#thumbnail","width":"32","height":"32","src":"\/\/lh6.googleusercontent.com\/-FvkXs2LeEWM\/AAAAAAAAAAI\/AAAAAAAAS-w\/9ATBMycwA5Y\/s512-c\/photo.jpg"}}],"thr$total":{"$t":"2"}}]}});