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Marizza Delgado
Fashion Model
One Management
And - Data Analyst
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You only grow in situations where you embrace the unknown.
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WHAT DO YOU DO?
I'm a recent university graduate with a B.S. in Information Technology, advocate for Women in STEM, and fashion model represented in San Francisco and New York City. As a data science intern, I have experience building predictive models and performing custom analysis with Machine Learning algorithms and libraries in Python. I'm currently applying to data analyst positions, where I would be analyzing and generating insights from large data sets to directly support key data driven business problems.
WHY DID YOU CHOOSE THIS FIELD?
Growing up in the Silicon Valley, I was inspired the innovations and technologies from my community. My dad is a Director of Infrastructure and Systems so I heard buzzwords like “kubernetes” or “the cloud” at the dinner table. Then, I attended the Grace Hopper Conference 2018, the world’s largest gathering of women technologists, where women from around the world learn, network, and celebrate their achievements. I followed the Data Science track led by influential women Data Science leaders because it interested me the most and I just stuck with it!
HOW DO/DID YOU TACKLE OBSTACLES?
I was initially admitted at UCSC as a computer science major and when I changed my major from computer science to information technology management, I experienced major imposter syndrome. I was constantly asking myself if I was truly a woman in STEM and contemplating if I should change my major. Honestly, I’m way happier in a more data-driven major because it’s something that I can see myself doing outside of school and as a career. I felt that being outnumbered by my male counterparts in my computer science courses didn’t really help with whenever you have group projects. After joing clubs on campus like Girls Who Code and Society of Women Engineers, I felt more support because I strongly believe that having a community of women improves your quality of work and life in general. Unfortunately, I joined those organizations after I changed my major so maybe I still would’ve been a computer science major but to be frank I learned more at internships than I did in data structure classes so I’m happy I switched.
WHAT DO YOU LOOK AT & THINK, "I WISH YOUNGER ME WOULD HAVE KNOWN THIS WAS POSSIBLE?"
If my younger self would have known that I'd be finishing my B.S. in Information Technology while working as a fashion model in NYC during a pandemic, I wouldn't believe you! I loved the stage and spotlight growing up, but I also excelled in math and sciences (Calculus is still my favorite subject!) so never thought in my wildest dreams I could do both!
WHY DO YOU LOVE WORKING IN STEM?
I love working in STEM because of the innovation and sisterhood. There is always a new industry that technology can disrupt; for instance, cryptocurrency and blockchain technologies. Last year, I was a Data Science intern for Queenly (YC W21), the largest marketplace and ML-driven search engine for the formalwear industry on iOS & Android App Stores, where I completed a regression analysis project to optimize their "Make an Offer" feature on the app using Pandas and SciKit Learn Python libraries to suggest offers to users based on dataset of over 30,000 dresses. I love that every industry- even pageant dresses and evening gowns- can be disrupted by technology! Also, I loved working at a women of color founded startup because of the sisterhood- I worked directly under the CTO and pair programmed with her.
BEST ADVICE FOR NEXT GENERATION?
Apply anyway! Find the opportunities in your community that you can dip your toes into coding, and apply! If cost and time commitment are an issue for you, most of the coding bootcamps are free and during the summer like Kode with Klossy and Girls Who Code. My 13 year old little sister is currently in the Girls Who Code Summer Immersion Program and I wish I was exposed to these opportunities growing up!
INSPIRATION
"Be comfortable being uncomfortable", because you only grow in situations where you embrace the unknown.