Women in Tech: Vaishali Budhiraja

What first sparked your interest in programming?

The first thing that sparked my interest in programming was to see how magically things would work. The things which we had already explored a lot in our everyday life without even being bothered about their complexity. And how much powerful you feel when you see yourself as a developer. You can actually decide what the user experience of some particular app would be like. I love my journey from Microsoft Paint to Microsoft Visual Studio.

What is your specialty?

I am a Freelance Web Developer, but I also specialize in Java.

What was your first application?

My first application was a "Tic Tac Toe" Java game.

Out of all of your projects, which are you the most proud of? Why?

When I was still in school, and was taking basic java classes, the idea of being able to develop a website excited me a lot. I always used to think that I will learn it once I am done with my board exams, but one day...

All of a sudden I thought of just to start it and had set a target for myself that in my first website, I am going to include all these things. Those things were way too complicated for me at that time and had set a time period of 2 days.

I didn't know how to even start with it. All I did was brainstorming which made me have a lot of inspiration and determination as I knew that I'll have to work a lot harder in order to make this work. I have done far better projects than that, but it still is my favorite as it motivates me whenever I feel stuck.

What are your professional goals?

I want to make a change in Tech Industry with my coding skills more importantly I want to break all the benchmarks set by myself. I want to create my own boundaries and be able to set my own limit so that nobody else wants to do that for me.

What challenges have you faced, as a woman in tech?

Honsetly speaking, none really. I didn't have to. I am raised up in a family where everybody has always supported me to pursue my dreams. My Mom and Dad have always not only suported but have lived my dreams to make them come true. My Dad has always taught me to keep going on, no matter what and to always keep improving. This has really helped me not at all to be bothered by any challenge that somebody else would ever be able to take it as my limitation.

What advice can you give to women and men that are looking to get into the field?

My message to every man and woman who are looking to get into the field is "Keep Going, No matter what!!" Programming is something that requires persistence and determination. Be persistent and true to yourself. And it will help you in a long run.