[Featured Creator] š Meet Caitlin, a woman in tech who shares her story via blog and podcast.
āØCreator Profile
Caitlin Stanton ā20 graduated this spring with a degree in Electrical and Computer Engineering and an unexpected twist. Sheās been attempting to say goodbye and break down the last four years of her life - not with a graduation ceremony, but with a blog. There, she shares a variety of content ranging from her experiences at internships, on Cornell campus, and even in Cupertino while giving a TEDx talk!
Beyond managing her blog and website, she recently appeared as a guest on the She Chat podcast where she talked about her experience as a woman in engineering, discussed privilege, and shared how she built a network in the āwomen in techā community. Her recent feature came after connecting with podcast hosts on Instagram, despite never meeting them in person.Ā
Caitlin plans to pursue her Masterās degree in the same field beginning this fall, and wants to keep recording her journey on her blog and sharing her story of authenticity, curiosity, and empowerment.Ā
šļøPodcast
Q: What were you most excited to communicate to the audience of the She Chat podcast?Ā
I wanted to share my story about being a woman in tech and how I found the community as I progressed, as well as touching on the fact that it's not perfect and thereās a giant need for allies. I recognize that Iām a person with a relative amount of privilege: Iām a white woman in tech, and a pretty loud woman in tech. That's something I go into any podcast or interview thinking about.Ā
Q: On She Chat, you advised students to prioritize whatās most important to them and avoid overloading themselves because there are only so many hours in the day. What does your ideal day look like?
Iād wake up early at 8:30,Ā Iād work out, and then Iād make a nice breakfast to feel healthy and full.Ā
Then - once my internship starts - Iād have a couple meetings and do some work with a few productive hours.Ā
Then I would definitely want a break during the middle of the day to read or write or something, just to break up the flow. After a couple more hours of work, I have a lot of friends who arenāt in NYC, so Iād want to Zoom call with them, have brainstorming sessions, and watch Greyās Anatomy.
I have a bunch of things I love doing, which I figured out in the 3 weeks between in-person school ending and virtual school starting: pursuing projects I enjoy doing and making time for the people I enjoy being around - as long as I have time to do that in the day, Iām good.Ā
And Iām a grandma now, I get tired by 10:30 p.m.
š»Blogging
Q: Can you walk me through what the creative process for a blog post is like?Ā
I go into my blog thinking, āI want to write about different topical issues that are relevant to me and my community.āĀ
I have a list of ideas on my laptop that I havenāt touched. I have this whole plan, but writing is one of those things that I canāt sit down and tell myself to do.
I have so many ideas, but I donāt execute them until maybe a year later. Itās something Iām trying to work on, but that's just my writing style. I need to be in the writing zone. There are moments when I donāt have time to write and I write amazing pieces, or Iāll have the whole day blocked out and I just sit there staring at my screen.
Q: I saw that your last blog post was from the end of last year. Do you have any plans for your next post that you can share with our audience?
I was going to write about my senior year and coronavirus and the bittersweet intersection of the two. Iāve expressed my feelings about it on Instagram, but I think it would be interesting to sit down and write out the timeline, because everything happened so suddenly.Ā
Not only would it be a cathartic experience, but it would also show how college students feel. Iām obviously devastated this is happening. Itās a world pandemic, but the other part of me is that I just wanted graduation. I wanted a nice normal senior spring semester. Thatās the internal dilemma Iāve been having.
Note: Since chatting with the Cornell Creatives team, Caitlin has posted new content on her blog. Check it out!
š¤Creative Journey + Finding Community
Q: What is the biggest challenge that youāve worked through on your creative journey, and who supported you?Ā
Iāve never had a giant defining moment when someone was like, āYou absolutely canāt do that.ā My family and friends always say, āWhy are you asking us for permission? Just go do it!ā
The biggest thing is just unconscious bias and microaggressions - the little things that people say that they don't realize are not good to say. For example, college friends wonāt reach out to me as quickly for help as they would their male counterparts. Most of the time, theyāve been pretty receptive to it when I reach out and say that Iām not okay with that.
Q: To all the aspiring student creatives reading this, what advice would you like to say? Do you have any advice or tips to share?Ā
Definitely understand your passion. Figure out whatās important to you and figure out what you actually want to get better at. Maybe in high school you enjoyed writing, but you want to figure out a different style or genre. Thatās something you can tackle.Ā
Understand that itās going to take time, and itās not going to be an immediate transition to success. Even if you donāt hit the mark, at least you tried and thatās information you can put into the cycle of finding a new passion and pursuing it.
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