Q: How Has Your Mother Inspired Your Career in Tech?
This week’s question is in honour of Mother’s Day. I want to know how your Mom has inspired your career in tech! This is how my mom inspired mine.
It was well known in my house that if you had a technical problem you went to Mom, not Dad. I love my Dad to bits, but he and technology and him are like oil and water. They only mix when they have to.
I never had the impression in my house that math, technology, or science was only for boys. My parents made it very clear that I could do whatever I wanted to, whatever I was interested in. For me that was mathematics.
Both of my Parents have university degrees: My Mom majoring in Math and my Dad in Management Science. I guess it isn’t that crazy that I became a tech leader. I love math/coding/tech and leadership.
My mother made sure we had a computer in our house in the early 90s. She learned how to put it together, install the operating system (Windows 3.0), and how to use it and all itss applications. We learned how to use a word processor with Word Perfect and we quickly became addicted to Lemmings, Mavis Beacon Teaches Typing, and Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego. Thanks to the fictional Mavis Beacon, I am a proficient typist.
Not only did we have a computer in the early 90s, but we had the internet by 1996, which gave me access to explore the World Wide Web!
In the early 90s, my mother joined the workforce after staying home to raise my sister and I. Having been out of the workforce for a long time, my mother decided to go back to night school to augment her skills. She started out as an Executive Assistant. Quickly, her mathematical brain showed itself and over time, she moved over to doing more bookkeeping and accounting. By the time she retired she had completed 3 years of her CGA.
My mother is my biggest Role Model. I could see myself as a mathematician, because she was one.
She gave me the tech bug early by showing me that trying new technology was not only fun but rewarding.
She showed me that no matter your age you can learn new things.
In her 20s she was a mathematician, 30s an executive assistant, 40s an accounting technician, and in her 50s she became a smartphone user.
My mother, now in her 60s and a retiree, is still taking on new challenges. Along with helping my sister and I raise our families, she volunteers to help kids read at a local school, has been getting back to her creative roots with weaving, knitting, and spinning, and just this spring has volunteered to become the treasurer at her local weaving guild.
Thanks for inspiring me and my career choices Mom! Love You!
How has your mother inspired your career in tech?
