Hi everyone!! :)
My name is Rumeza (rum-eh-zah), and over the last 2 years, I have completely transformed my life.
After a long summer, I’m finally entering the final year of my high school career - something I believe will be the most pivotal time of my life. Instead of taking the usual path of going to a regular high school, I decided to do all my education in an online environment;
And it changed my life.
In the time that I spent alone in the past two years, I’ve had the opportunity to develop immensely in both the professional and personal sense - and finally began to see a bigger picture - one that I never really painted myself into.
From learning about software development through YouTube to landing my very first internship in just a few short months, here is a (very brief) overview of what I’ve been up to ever since entering high school.
2021-2023 Highlights
I could go over every little event that has led me to this point of my life, but it would be wayyy too long to read - so here are a few of the important parts of my journey:
Developing and deploying my first app in grade 10, Blu3Whale ED, just 2 months after learning how to code for the first time
Landing my first Internship in my grade 10 year @ Pixeltree Inc in Calgary
Joining The Knowledge Society and levelling up 10x
Produced another large project during my grade 11 year, Renew, to combat the exportation of overstock clothing donations
I submitted Renew and Blu3Whale ED to the Technovation Girls competition which is a program that allows young females to program AI or mobile apps to help support the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, and got both apps in the quarter-finalist and semifinalist positions.
Participating in Technovation in my earlier years really served as a conduit for igniting my creativity. From being a participant for the last two years I have begun to fortify why I have this passion for creating with code.
Understanding the Why
Why?? That was a question I only began to ask myself after I got accepted into TKS, a 10-month accelerator for high school students that I participated in for the majority of this year. During my time in the program, apart from meeting the most passionate and charismatic individuals I have ever known, I was exposed to more reasons why I wanted to help the world and not just be a better innovator, but a better person. From being able to pitch to Amazon Alexa Executives, to attending some of the most surreal events in the past year, it is clear that the development I did as a person was my key ROI from being a part of the TKS family, and made me understand that my north star is truly being able to impact and help those around me.
The skills I learned from developing my own projects, networking with new people and being a part of an environment that constantly challenged me, have worked to bring opportunities and open new doors.
This summer, I worked at Arcurve, a company I have wanted to work at since my grade 10 year. To even land that opportunity, I had to harness the skills I've been learning over the years such as boss mentality to approach the Director of Talent Growth at a job fair to introduce myself and showcase why I want to work at the company. Surely enough, that one-minute conversation turned into an interview and then just a short while after I found myself in the Arcurve office.
Beginning the End
This summer has been the most reflective for me thus far; the people that I’ve had the opportunity to work with this summer and in the prior year have truly shaped who I’ve become and all I can feel is immense gratitude for the opportunities that have come my way.
I’m not the best at sharing what I’ve been up to and writing about myself but that is a skill I want to work on extensively this year. So.. allow me to introduce a new “thing” I’ll be picking up this year, which is documenting every month of my final year in my high school career.
I’ve always viewed my life as somewhat of a movie, and adhering to this mindset really encouraged me to make the changes I have to myself now. I think back to 2 years ago, and If I had never stepped out of that circle of comfort that I was locked in before, I would’ve never been able to see the brighter and better things that were to come.
Here are things you (may) get to experience through reading the following articles in the coming year:
my failures
my successes
my goals
my progress
my life :)
And most importantly, what it’s like to be a (somewhat) average 17-year-old girl. My goal with this new documentation is to become better at sharing what I’ve been up to, meeting new people who can help me in my journey, and working towards keeping myself accountable in the rigour that is about to come.
Until then,
I’ll see you next month :)
I wish you the best in your future and I hope you achieve everything you've ever dreamt about :)