Dasha | USA

Searching for a path

After graduating from high school, Dasha did not attend college due to financial and health constraints.

“I really didn’t have any goals, and I feel like I didn’t have those goals because I didn’t have opportunities,” Dasha says.

And so, at age 24, Dasha found herself working as a curb-side shopper at a local grocery store, making a meager wage that did not meet her needs. She wanted more, and she fed her love of learning by spending most of her free time in the local public library, reading.

“I felt stuck. I just didn’t want to work at the store forever. I wanted a career but I didn’t have a degree. I wanted a change,” she recalls.

Finding Generation USA

During the pandemic, she decided to take action. She researched alternative career programs and found Generation USA. She applied and was accepted.

“I didn’t know tech bootcamps even existed,” she told us. The thing she appreciated the most about her Generation experience was being able to do hands-on work that closely mirrored a real-world professional environment. She could really understand the potential pathways opening up to her and the career options she’d have upon graduation.

However, Dasha struggled with severe anxiety around public speaking, especially during interviews. With the support of the Generation team and the confidence she found in her new skillset, Dasha’s nervousness began to evaporate. And, with the help of Generation, she developed a resume she was really proud of. “I really enjoy updating my resume and writing cover letters. I guess because now I know how to do it.”

Living a new life

Today, Dasha is one of 25,000+ Generation learners who put in the hard work, took a risk, and transformed their lives during the pandemic.

“At Generation USA I felt like I could do anything. I took everything I learned from the module on resume skills and interview skills. I saved all my work [during the program], made a portfolio, and after graduating I got an internship.” As she was completing the Generation program, Dasha discovered the Web Development Internship at Google, applied, and was accepted.

Dasha reflects, “If I think back to a year from today, now I’m a completely different person. I never thought I’d be in this field or growing this much in my career. If I hadn’t been through the Generation program, I’d probably still be a curbside shopper. This is all thanks to Generation.”