Glory Onuwa is a 17-year-old frontend developer with 2 years of experience. In just a few years of learning how to code, she has worked on over 13 projects. In this interview with Rubiestech, she talked about how she started, the challenges, and her future plans. Excerpts…
Can we meet you?
My name is Onuwa Glory Chinamanda, 17-year-old. I am currently in Abuja but I am from Enugu state and I am a frontend developer.
When did you start to code?
I started coding in the year 2019
What led you into coding?
A club in my school organised a coding bootcamp for girls which I attended and that was how I started. It wasn’t something I planned and since I started, I fell in love with it.
Since I started, I have worked on 13 or more major projects. The first one I worked on was after the coding bootcamp. It was a website that makes drugs available for patients with rare diseases. It serves as an interface between the drug producers and the patient.
The second one was during the She Code Africa mentorship program. It was a project that let travelers know the current weather of their traveling destination. I also did a quiz app.
For the first one, I worked on both the frontend and the backend while for the second one, I did the frontend.
How has the tech community supported you? :
The major tech community that supported me is Visiola Foundation, She Code Africa and HNG. Whenever I have a problem, I go back to people I know there and they help me.
What are the challenges you are facing as a young person?
I would say some things are constrained to particular ages and apart from that, there is a problem of electricity and I don’t have a laptop of my own.
As a girl what are the challenges you are facing?
The tech industry is mainly dominated by males and there are few girls or young girls who code although the Visiola foundation is there to support young girls. I think they discovered such problems but you have to be there.
Where did you see yourself in the next 5 years?
I see myself solving problems and inspiring many girls to be the very best version they can be
What are the problems you think you can solve?
I will develop a tracking system that will track corrupt leaders.
How many programming languages did you know very well?
HTML, CSS and JavaScript. I also have basic knowledge of PHP and Bootstrap though that is a framework
Which of the languages was someone challenging?
I would say CSS.
How proficient are you in JavaScript?
Intermediate
What advice do you have for kids?
I would say they should start early, start now. They shouldn’t wait but work with the resources they have.
When you started, did your parents support you?
Yes they did especially throughout the time I attended the bootcamp
Do you have any mentor?
The person that mentored me at She code Africa, her name is Kafilat Abdulwahab and the second one I met at Visiola Foundation, Mr. Emmanuel. The others are friends like Eniola Osabiya
The Rubies Technologies Kids spotlight is the initiative of our organisation to showcase young ones going great works in the tech field but need more visibility. Do you know any kid that is going great stuff in the tech field and you want us to feature him/her? Kindly contact Rubies Technologies info@rubiestech.com
