Hello, My name is Grethel, I am 25 years old, and currently, I live in Guatemala with my two parents and my 13 years old brother.
I started mentioning them because they have been part of the success of my life. My parents have taught me values such as responsibility and perseverance, which have accompanied me in my life, and critical moments such as choosing my university career. They have always been a crucial part; when I was 19 years old, I decided to study systems engineering. I should mention that at that time, I was dedicated to education; I loved to educate children of first and second grade on English language and mathematics. I liked that they were my most significant projects at that time. They were 25 little people who filled my days with light, but at the same time, I was studying systems engineering. Engineering, for me, had always represented a challenge. There were times when I had to cry because something did not go as expected. I had to stay awake all night and still keep working. There were even times when I had to finish my homework when it was time to take a bath and go to work.
When I set a goal and not giving up until I reached my dreams day by day, my determination led me. After 3 years of being a teacher, to decide to stop being a teacher to start focusing more on my engineering career. And that’s when I found an excellent opportunity to start analyzing web pages within Allied Global. The decision to stop teaching and pursue my dreams of fighting for my career was difficult because teaching and impacting others’ lives have. Always been something that I have liked a lot more at the time. I had to choose and place my desires on a scale and decide to continue finding a job more oriented to technology.
Within this path, studying engineering life has also allowed me to impact lives because I have been able to teach adults by maturity to teach them not only to read and write. The basic knowledge of a computer has also allowed me to approach young people who are dedicated to continuous learning on weekends, allowing me to give them computer classes.
The path of studying systems engineering for me has not been easy, there are many challenges, and there are many sexist criticisms within my career. Even when I entered a generation a little more advanced and a little more inclusive with women, I ran for some years with university professors who, as a woman, did not believe that I would be able to program a system, to deliver the tasks as my male colleagues would do. Still, today I can say that I closed my 50 engineering courses and that for me, that has been the biggest challenge achieved until my short 26 years of age.
Currently, I continue studying for a master’s degree in computer security. This master’s degree also helps me not only to stay with the knowledge of technology but also to be able to know my rights as a person before society uses technology and support in the future legally to a person who requires it with the laws that support within the technology as well as also allow me to learn a little more about the laws that exist today in the country of Guatemala on the use of technology.
Today, my job is to lead and manage projects of various branches, IT, AI, RPA, HR, Communication and Culture, Operations. And for me, each project is like having a student because I must be accountable to each sponsor for the progress. I must take care in the detail of the fulfillment of the tasks and ensure that each team member has the necessary resources to achieve the objectives in each deliverable. My work allows me to meet and help many people from different areas. It has allowed me to learn in detail and contribute ideas for improvement.
This experience of sharing my story of how I started, the challenges I have had, and transmitted the knowledge that life has allowed me to acquire. Also to fulfill one of the biggest dreams that I set since my first day of kindergarten, which was to be a teacher, because for me being a teacher is to be an image that people can rely on, that they see you as an example but an example of good practices, of a transparent success and a happy life. Success has been achieved through effort, and you don’t need to make anyone less. But on the contrary, empower people with the knowledge that you transmit to help them be better.
One of my objectives that motivated me the most to be part of this movement is to be able to deposit in each of the girls a tiny seed about the decisions they are going to make in their lives, to always remember that success is achieved by working in what makes you really happy, that you must love the career you are going to choose, Any job is going to have significant difficulties, but above all those difficulties will be overcome if you are really committed in love with what you do day by day. That is what had worked for me in the most challenging moments, in the moments when I received the most substantial criticism. Being in love with what you do will allow you to be happy at all times. When you really work and study what you are passionate about, the salary you get is a gift because you are enjoying what you do. Still, you will be paid for what you enjoy doing.
The most significant learning I can leave you with is to always think of yourself when choosing a career and a job, value yourself, make sure that you have a position where you are respected, where they love your time and you as a person, that you enjoy what you are going to do, all the activities you are going to do, you must be in love with each one of those activities, not all of them will be easy, not all of them will be beautiful.
But remember that when you love what you do, and you will be paid to enjoy doing your job.