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From YouTube: Oscar Romero - My tech journey
Description
Oscar is DACAmentented technology professional. In his words: "I believe that my journey has been unique and interesting enough to share with others and provide insight into the possibilities of a career in Technology as an undocumented, prior to DACA, and DACAmented individual, post DACA.
I've gone through an interesting journey to end up where I am as a Software Engineer. I started as a Mechanical Engineering major in college back in 2013. I had a couple of internships in college with Red Ventures in their IT Department and my Junior year in college changed my major to Mathematics with a Computer Engineering minor.
I also held a part-time job at Red Ventures my Senior year as an Inside Sales Professional. Upon graduating in 2017 from UNC @ Charlotte I got a job in Red Ventures IT Department as a Desktop Support Technician with the goal of taking the Red Ventures Internal Tech Academy a year later to transition into Software Engineering. I completed that transition in the Fall of 2018 and have been loving my job ever since.
I have recently been doing my best to apply the technical skills I've learned as a digital activist for our Latinx community. My focus is to help move the needle forward with all social equity issues but primarily the immigration issue the US is going through. As an undocumented/DACAmented individual this is one of the most important issues for me to fight for."
A
Thank
you
for
joining
my
talk
today.
My
name
is
oscar
romero
and
today
we'll
be
talking
about
my
tech
journey,
specifically
what
I've
encountered
in
the
past
eight
years
or
so
here's
a
quick
agenda.
What
we're
talking
about
today,
it's
gonna,
be
who
am
I
you
know.
Why
am
I
here?
Why
am
I
talking
to
you?
Where
did
my
tech
journey
start?
How
did
it
develop
and
what
I
wish
I
knew
then,
and
what
is
next
for
me.
A
A
A
I
was
born
in
mexico
city,
but
I
was
raised
in
newton
grove,
north
carolina
and
I
crossed
the
border
at
the
age
of
four
years
old
to
bridge
the
gap
as
to
why
I
am
the
united
states.
Now
what
that
means,
though,
that,
because
I
crossed
the
board
at
age
four,
I
actually
crossed
it
without
any
legal
papers,
and
so
now
today
I
am
an
undocumented
individual
in
the
united
states.
A
That
means
that
currently
I
do
have
deferred
action
from
crowded
arrivals,
which
is
also
known
as
daca
for
those
of
you
that
don't
know
what
daca
is
it's
an
executive
action
that
was
passed
by
the
obama
administration
in
2012
that
essentially
allowed
for
young
individuals
that
came
to
the
us
before
the
age
of
16
to
apply
to
have
their
deportation
process
delayed
or
deferred
in
assets.
Also
granting
us
work
authorization
as
well
as
a
social
security
number
we'll
dive
a
little
bit
more
into
that
in
just
a
minute.
A
Here
I
graduated
high
school
in
2013
from
newton
grove
north
carolina
going
to
hopton
at
the
time
in
2013.
I
also
received
the
gondor
scholars
scholarship,
with
a
full
ride
to
unc
charlotte.
This
was
really
crucial
because
at
times
being
undocumented
throughout
my
entire
life,
I
was
told
that
I
wasn't
going
to
be
able
to
make
it
past
high
school.
So
this
was
a
breakthrough
in
my
collegiate
career
coming
up
after
high
school,
I
graduated
from
unc
charlotte
as
a
first-generation
immigrant
and
a
first-generation
college
graduate.
A
A
A
A
To
give
you
a
breakdown
road
to
hire
is
an
organization
that
provides
access
to
individuals
that
might
not
have
a
path
through
college
to
a
professional
career.
So
therefore
they
provide
them
professional
development
and
end
up
getting
them
a
job.
At
the
end
of
the
program
with
anything
from
software
engineering
I.t
to
customer
service.
Circular
lewis
is
an
organization
in
charlotte
that
helps
young
latina
girls
go
through
their
process
of
going
through
school
in
middle
school,
up
to
high
school,
providing
mentorship
and
guidance.
The
undocker
professionals
network.
A
I
volunteered
with
several
of
these
organizations
that
I
mentioned
as
a
speaker.
A
mentor
and
I've
also
helped
create
websites
and
web
app
development
for
one
of
these
organizations.
At
some
point,
I
am
also
the
founder
of
the
my
undoculife
blog
this
started
quite
a
year
ago,
and
if
you
want
to
visit
it,
you
can
go
to
myundoculife.com
and
the
space
was
created
of
inspiration.
A
I'm
also
a
te
keria
community
member
for
any
of
those.
I
want
to
join
it's
a
community
that
specifically
provides
latinx
and
tech,
a
network
to
connect
with
others.
I
actually
found
out
about
this
octagato's
conference
through
that,
so
I'm
super
excited
for
other
people
to
join
going
back
to
my
tech
journey.
Where
did
it
start
right?
What
got
me
interested
in
tech?
Because
I
think
everyone
has
a
different
journey,
and
today
I'm
sharing
specifically
about
mine
and
so
we're
going
to
go
a
little
bit
into
the
past
specifically
to
when
I
was
14.
A
and
at
the
time
I
wanted
to
nothing
else,
but
be
a
regular
high
school
student
and
wanted
to
get
my
driver's
ed.
So
I
could
drive
legally
well.
What
I
didn't
kind
of
expect
was
the
fact
that
I
was
going
to
encounter
one
piece
of
paper
that
was
going
to
ask
me
for
information
that
I
didn't
have
so
on
day.
One
I
was
struck
by
the
fact
that
the
paper
that
they
sent
me
home
was
asking
for
a
social
security
number.
I
didn't
have
that
it's
not
provided
to
people
who
are
undocumented.
A
So
at
age
15,
another
barrier
happened
that
at
age
15
usually
north
carolina.
We
get
a
work
permit,
so
I
could
go
apply
at
the
local
mcdonald's
and
you
know
start
making
some
money
just
to
have
to
spend
as
a
regular,
high
schooler.
I
couldn't
have
access
to
that.
So
what
I
did
instead
was.
I
started
working
jobs
in
the
fields
of
rural
north
carolina
to
provide
just
some
additional
income
for
me
to
spend
on
the
side
and
not
have
to
burden
my
family
with
it.
A
I
was
very
inexperienced
and
it
was
definitely
a
struggle,
but
this
also
ties
into
the
fact
of
why
I
pursued
technology,
because
I
realized
that
you
know
it
can
be
very
hard,
laborious
jobs
that
I
could
have
the
option
to
do.
While
I
could
instead
use
my
education
to
put
forward
a
different
step
and
use
it
for
technology,
so
a
little
bit
of
time,
travel
to
age.
17
at
this
point,
technology
was
taken
breakthrough.
A
A
A
lot
of
immigrants
that
spoke
spanish
and
the
nearest
I.t
service
was
about
an
hour
away.
So
I
saw
opportunity
and
I
reached
out
and
used
the
internet
again
to
my
advantage
to
reach
out
to
anthony
carmona,
who
was
a
student
in
new
york,
and
I
connected
with
him.
He
helped
me
set
up
a
similar
business
model
and
so
below.
Here
in
the
picture
you
see
what
was
part
of
my
first
business
card
in
my
life,
which
I
labeled
just
romero,
repairs
or
reparacion.
A
I
made
a
couple
hundred
dollars
by
reaching
out
to
different
individuals
in
the
community
that
needed
tech
help
and
anything
from
uploading
music
to
their
mp3
players
to
malware.
That
was
on
computers.
It
was
really
quite
successful
and
I
made
a
couple
hundred
dollars
off
of
it
now
going
into
my
graduation
of
high
school,
and
this
is
2013
at
this
point.
A
Daca
was
passed
in
2012
a
year
earlier
and
in
2013
was
when
I
received
daca,
and
so
daca
specifically
opened
up
so
many
doors
for
me,
because
now
I
had
work
authorization
I
could
get
a
driver's
license.
So
I
didn't
have
to
ask
my
dad
to
drive
me
everywhere
to
get
you
know.
Do
my
business
and
I
was
able
to
actually
get
hired
on
by
an
actual
company.
A
Keep
this
in
mind
as
we
go
into
how
my
development
increases
in
the
next
coming
years,
because
it
was
crucial
to
the
opportunities
that
I
encountered
after
this,
along
with
a
full-ride
scholarship
that
I
got
from
golden
door
scholars
now
I
realize
you
know
what
do
I
do
in
college?
What
what
has
that
opened
up?
Because
for
daca
recipients
that
are
undocumented
sorry,
people
that
are
undocumented
in
the
us?
We
don't
have
access
to
federal
financial
aid.
We
also
at
least
in
various
states,
get
out
of
state
tuition.
A
Even
if
we've
lived
our
whole
life
here
and
so
that's
probably
close
to
three
times
the
cost
of
an
average
student
tuition.
So
gds
really
opened
up
that
opportunity
as
well
as
daca,
so
that
I
could
provide
for
myself
in
college
so
now
moving
into
college.
I
realized
that
I,
like
math
and
science
so
natural.
I
wanted
to
do
something
in
engineering.
A
I
went
with
mechanical
engineering
because
it
was
pitched
to
me
as
the
broadest
of
all
the
engineering
disciplines
at
that
time
and
sure
enough,
though
I
kind
of
should
have
stayed
with
technology
and
computer
engineering
and
software
engineering
in
general.
But
I
explore
mechanical
engineering
and
what
actually
ended
up
happening
is
that
I
actually
ended
up
pivoting
away
from
mechanical
engineering,
and
I
finished
up
with
a
math
and
a
minor
in
computer
engineering.
A
So
I
graduated
unc
at
charlotte,
eventually
at
20
2017,
there's
a
picture
of
my
entire
family
here
on
the
bottom
right
and
above
it
I'm
sharing
a
picture
of
what
daca
also
entails,
having
daca
and
tells
that
you
have
to
renew
every
two
years
for
work
that
work,
authorization
that
deferred
action
on
deportation
and
keeping
that
social
security
valid.
It's
really
expensive
for
one
and
it
costs
about
five
hundred
dollars,
not
any
legal
fees
associated.
A
On
top
of
that,
it's
a
challenge
to
kind
of
have
to
have
that.
On
the
back
of
your
mind
each
time,
but
with
daca,
though
I
had
gotten
the
opportunity
to
do
internships
at
the
company,
I'm
at
now
red
ventures.
I
took
advantage
of
my
work
authorization
and
worked
in
the
summers
of
2015
and
2016
there
in
their
help,
desk
department
and
so
being
at
revenge
has
really
opened
up
the
opportunity
for
me
to
explore
that
tech
field
and
being
there
in
2015,
going
into
my
junior
year.
A
A
How
can
I
continue
to
work
if
that
authorization,
because
it
was
an
executive
action,
so
it
can
be
removed
at
any
given
moment
and
it
actually
has
been
tried
to
be
removed
by
the
trump
administration
since
2016
and
it's
been
trying
to
be
rescinded
several
times
most
recently
it
was
unsuccessful,
but
we
don't
know
how
long
that'll
last
it's
not
a
constitutional
law.
So
therefore
it's
temporary
evaluating
my
opportunities.
A
When
I
was
exploring
opportunities
as
full-time
jobs,
I
was
told
that
red
ventures
had
an
internal
tech
academy,
also
known
similarly
to
a
boot
camp,
and
so
therefore
I
was
like
this
is
a
perfect
opportunity.
I
can
get
my
foot
in
the
door
by
starting
off
as
desktop
support,
since
I
have
my
foot
in
the
door
by
doing
those
internships
in
the
help
desk,
and
I
can
do
the
ita
academy
when
it
comes
up.
A
A
Part
of
the
software
engineering
piece
that
also
intrigued
me
was
the
fact
that
I
could
work
remotely.
All
I
needed
was
a
computer
and
the
knowledge
to
be
able
to
exercise
that
software
engineering
capacity
so
at
age
25.
Now
I'm
a
successful
ita
graduate
and
a
software
engineer.
I
still
have
my
daca
still
kind
of
up
in
the
air
though,
but
you
can
see
me
here
happy
as
can
be
having
completed
the
ita
and
getting
a
t-shirt
for
it.
A
Also,
I've
worked
with
php,
nodejs
and
golang
several
api
integrations
and
thankfully,
because
of
the
pandemic.
I've
also
been
working
remotely
since
march.
So
I
got
everything
I
wanted
so
far.
I
think
I
was
actually
thinking
there
they'll
be
careful
what
you
wish
for,
because
in
march
I
was
exploring
the
opportunity
to
work
remotely
and
sure
enough.
This
happened.
So
now
I've
been
able
to
do
it,
probably
not
the
circumstances
I
expected,
but
thankfully
all
things
granted
I've
been
doing
well,
but
to
take
a
step
back
away
from
all
of
that,
you
know
it's.
A
A
You
just
have
to
kind
of
push
through
and
realize
that
you
do
belong
and
get
comfortable
with
that
aspect.
Regardless
of
your
background,
you
can
get
into
this
field.
Tech
is
hard,
but
it's
not
impossible
to
do
well.
There
are
so
many
things
I
still
don't
know,
and
I
still
struggle
with
day
to
day.
You
have
to
accept
that
just
tech
is
simply
hard,
there's
a
lot
to
it.
There
is
a
learning
curve,
but
once
you
get
over
that
learning
curve
it
kind
of
spirals
and
goes
into
a
snowball
effect,
nobody
knows
everything.
A
A
So
with
that,
I
want
to
continue
my
digital
activism
and
continue
assisting
latinx
organizations
with
their
digital
efforts
being
from
the
demosnc.com
website,
creating
a
platform
for
better
access
to
resources.
This
will
continue
to
grow
myself.
As
a
software
engineer.
So
not
only
will
I
be
able
to
help
organizations
that
need
that
help,
but
I'll
be
developing
myself
as
I
go
with
that,
you
know
again,
the
biggest
piece
that
kind
of
led
me
into
this
tech
journey
at
first
was
the
fact
that
if
daca
goes
away,
I
have
technical
skills.
A
Now
that
I
could
use
as
a
freelancer
with
daca
or
undocumented,
whatever
it
is
in
the
united
states,
you
can
be
contracted
out
without
all
that
paperwork
in
front,
and
so
therefore,
that's
what
I
can
leverage
to
my
benefit
and
also
I
could
potentially
go
to
another
country.
As
long
as
I
have
a
computer
and
the
knowledge
in
my
head,
I
can
do
it,
and
so,
if
you
find
yourself
in
a
similar
situation,
that's
challenging-
and
you
know
you
need
to
figure
out
something
else.
Technology
might
be
the
path
forward.
A
If
you
haven't
already
done
so
in
the
future.
I
do
see
myself
hopefully
having
a
full-time
job
that
helps
improve
the
us
democracy
or
just
in
general,
the
opportunity
for
any
country
to
develop
a
better
system
for
their
people
to
have
a
voice,
because
it's
incredible
what
we
can
accomplish
and
if
you
saw
the
quantum
computing
workshop
earlier,
then
you
can
see
the
potential
there
that
we
can
do
just
to
embed
it
into
our
day-to-day
lives
of
what
we
do
with
our
countries.
A
The
biggest
one
for
me
right
now
is
better
digital
voting
resources.
There's
such
a
lack
of
people
going
out
to
vote,
and
you
know
to
think
that
we
have
to
go
in
first
and
do
all
this.
It's
such
a
hassle.
I
think
we
can
simplify
it
and
as
engineers
our
job
is
to
improve
on
the
processes
that
exist
and
see
what
the
opportunities
are,
the
biggest
other
one.
That's
on
my
mind
and
this
one
it
will
be.
A
work
in
progress
is
destigmatizing
mental
health.
A
A
A
A
So
that
was
a
lot
I
know,
but
if
you
still
want
to
hear
more,
you
can
visit
my
website
at
oscar
romero,
calm
and
we
can
chat
more
about
it.
You
can
also
look
into
the
my
undocu
life
blog
from
here.
I
really
just
want
to
say
thank
you
to
the
oktoberfest
conference
for
giving
me
this
platform
and
this
opportunity
to
talk
to
the
greater
audience
about
what
it
is
to
be
an
undocumented,
documented
person
in
the
united
states.