The general public can sometimes view technologists as unrelatable cyborgs with whom they have little in common. They can’t imagine that they would ever be able to code or program or do all the other impressive things they do. And then one day, they meet a chatty, funny, down-to-earth human — who happens to write applications.

According to Alyssia Jovellanos, a few years ago, she couldn’t have imagined she’d be a computer science major, let alone the 2016 Student of Vision Award Winner. She had planned on applying to med school until a chance meeting with a fellow female technologist, she explained to Jeff Frick (@JeffFrick), cohost of theCUBE, from the SiliconANGLE Media team.

“My brother actually started dating a girl who studied computer science, and I was a nosy little sister, so I asked her a lot of questions, and I found out about her career as a software engineer,” Jovellanos said. She said this was a “life-changing, pivotal moment for me” that developed into a fascination with technology.

She applied to the computer science program at McMaster University in Ontario, Canada, at the last minute and was accepted.

Breaking it down

Jovellanos can relate to kids who feel intimidated by technology, because she was one of them. “It looks so sophisticated on a phone, you think, ‘There’s no way I can do this.'”

She’s passionate about showing young people that they can do it too and spent a summer work term building tools to teach kids how to code. The tools have been used by 4,000 students, and Jovellanos said she is always eager to tell her own story to help get kids past their fears.

“I think when they see role models or other people who are doing it, they naturally become curious and want to try it out as well,” she said.

Watch the full video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of the Anita Borg Institute’s Women of Vision Awards 2016.

Photo by  SiliconANGLE