Thank you for sharing your experiences, here Dalia. I have not heard a first person account like yours from Gaza before. The news we see from Gaza in Australia is almost exclusively bleak - a never ending tale of injustices, deprivation, losses, and endurance. Your story is a wonderful counterpoint that lifts my feelings.
Congratulations for being recognised as a capable engineer by two organisations that you hold in high regard. In addition to your engineering aptitude, it sounds like you know how to direct yourself and to connect with your poise in professional circumstances that some other talented engineers might find trying. These capabilities are rare and valued, because they distinguish you as someone who can join a group and move it forward.
Please keep posting here at HN from time to time. I wish you happiness and satisfaction, and look forward to hearing how you get on with whatever you choose to work at and discover.
Yes I know! Gaza is so much more than that. There are a lot of smart motivated people. Did you know that one of the people who worked on the Mars Helicopter - NASA that just landed on Mars is from Gaza? https://www.linkedin.com/in/elbasyouni/
I want you to know that I’m not the only one. I worked hard but so did lots of other people and some of them are even smarter than me. 4 people from Manara in Palestine got into Google this year and I think there will be more (I was in Manara’s 4th cohort and the 5th cohort is just applying to jobs now. I think at least 6 people are interviewing at Google from both West Bank and Gaza).
I’ll keep you updated and if you want I can tell them to share their stories here too :)
I worked in Gaza for close to 3 years and led a team of 6 software engineers. We worked on a pretty complicated business app (UN project). We were a very quality-focused team and did some pretty cool and advanced stuff.
What I can say from my time in Gaza is that there are many very driven, talented software engineers there. Some of the best engineers I ever worked with were Palestinians (and I don't say this lightly).
Congratulations for being recognised as a capable engineer by two organisations that you hold in high regard. In addition to your engineering aptitude, it sounds like you know how to direct yourself and to connect with your poise in professional circumstances that some other talented engineers might find trying. These capabilities are rare and valued, because they distinguish you as someone who can join a group and move it forward.
Please keep posting here at HN from time to time. I wish you happiness and satisfaction, and look forward to hearing how you get on with whatever you choose to work at and discover.