I never imagined working for TAF!

Growing up in Seattle, I first learned about TAF in 2000 from a kid that went to the same barbershop as me. He talked about this program he was in where he got to take computers apart and put them back together, learned web design, networking, college and career preparedness skills, and even got a summer internship and college scholarship from. Honestly, he had my attention at “computers,” “web design,” and “internship.”

I was in the eighth grade at the time, and I located an application to this program the very next day at school. I remember after I turned in my application, I had to interview to get in the program. It was my first interview for anything so I was definitely nervous, but Sherry, TAF’s deputy director, and Trish, TAF’s co-founder and executive director, were easy to talk to and it went great.

Once I was in the program, and all four years I was in it during my high school years, I learned not just computer skills, but skills that I use in all facets of my life. Also, the experience I gained through the three separate summer internships with Microsoft that they placed me in made me that much more ready for college and beyond.

After graduating from high school, attending Seattle University, and then ultimately graduating from there in 2008, I started as a teaching assistant with TAF’s TechStart program before becoming a technology instructor for another non-profit. Now, two plus years later, I am TAF’s new programs assistant, and I will once again be teaching as one of the teachers of our new STEM Up program.

I’m definitely excited about teaching again, but even more excited that I’m with TAF. This has totally been a full circle kind of experience for me, and I can honestly say that I’m back home. I never thought that after being a participant, going to college, graduating, and then working, that I would then come back as an alumni to become staff of the organization that molded me into what I am today. So I’m not just a part of TAF, I am TAF.