THE POWER OF MENTORSHIP
One student shares her journey toward independence.
WHEN ANGELA FERRO CAPERA transferred to UW Bothell to pursue a degree in the School of STEM’s Computer Science & Software Engineering major, she didn’t know how she was going to manage. She knew that the course load was going to be tough and that she would have to work part-time to help pay her bills, but she was determined to succeed so she could get a secure job with her degree.
When Ferro Capera arrived on campus, she thought, “I don’t know if I’m going to be able to do this.”
Then, during her first week at UW Bothell, she got an email from the School of STEM’s academic advising staff. The message: You may be eligible for a scholarship. “When I received that email,” she said, “it was like a miracle. Honestly, it was like a prayer that somebody heard because I was worried about money and how I was going to work and go to school.”
Ferro Capera applied for the scholarship and was selected. And it made all the difference to her experience, she said. “That’s why I was able to enjoy my time at UW Bothell and be a part of everything I could.”
The scholarship meant she didn’t have to work a part-time job, could focus on her studies and get involved as a vice president for the Association for Computing Machinery on campus.
When it came to her time in the CSSE program, Ferro Capera still often felt like she didn’t belong. She was surrounded by students who had been coding for much longer than her — some since they were 8 years old.
“And here I am, 20-something, trying to learn how to do Java,” she said. “It felt really challenging, like I didn’t belong in the field.”
Things started to change when she was assigned a mentor as part of her scholarship, Allyson Lower, a vice president at Avanade. Lower suggested books for Ferro Capera to read and introduced her to other people at Avanade for informational interviews. But what mattered most was the understanding Lower had as a woman in tech and the empathetic coaching she provided when tough situations arose.
“That was reassuring. It felt like my feelings mattered,” said Ferro Capera, adding that through the mentorship, she realized she did belong in the tech world.
After graduating, Ferro Capera decided she wanted to help Avanade like the people there had helped her, so she asked Lower for an introduction to a hiring manager. She now works at the company — and pays it forward by being a champion for the next generation of UW Bothell students.