This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Sarah Bartley
Yesterday I was checking my feed on Twitter when I saw one of my followers commenting on this tweet. This tweet was sharing screenshots of a post found on the Reddit forum r/AmItheAsshole forum. The original post has since been removed by the moderators, but screenshots and cross postings can still be found in other Reddit forums.
Lacey Williams Henschel@laceynwilliams
Hi programmers would you like to be incandescent with rage?01:26 AM - 15 Mar 2023
A lot of comments were quick to point that this story had to be fake and this author had to be a troll just trying to create a reaction to get attention. Regardless if it was fake or not, the post quickly got reactions the author was wanting with 351 comments already responding to the original post. Many of these comments were criticizing him for how he handled the situation as well as his view of "programming being serious and not a game", telling his daughter to stop with the princess programmer stuff, and even saying C++ is outdated.
As DEV gets ready to end the WeCoded celebration this year, I want to use this year's post to reach out to Princess Programmer. While there's a lot of focus on her father, I want to use this post to reach out to his daughter to let her know that she inspires me as a programmer and I hope she continues to code. I can't speak for the rest of the tech community, but I think is is awesome she taught herself C++ and created her own game. Those are two big accomplishments she should be very proud of herself for. I hope she will feel ready to publish her game someday so little kids can play it and inspire others to create their own games too.
If she needs a mentor or someone to support her as she continues to learn how to code, there are tons of organizations and communities that can support. I'm also certain there are many developers that would also love to mentor her and help her out if she needs it too. So please don't hesitate to reach out and ask.
Most importantly, I hope she continues to keep being a princess programmer and what that means to her. One of the reasons I love tech is because tech allows everyone to bring what makes them special to the table so they can create awesome things. Tech needs more people like princess programmer in it and I hope she never gives up on that.
If there is anything we can learn from this Reddit post is the power a mentor can have and it makes a difference in breaking down the barriers in tech. Good and bad mentors do leave an impact that can leave a lasting influence new developers. This whole situation reminded me of the TV show Scrubs. In episode 17, J.D. is given a med student to teach and he gets so frustrated by his student's mistakes that he tells the student he shouldn't be a doctor. When he discovers that his student quits, he tries getting confirmation from others at the hospital that what happened wasn't his fault. Carla doesn't buy it and tells him that he was the one that failed since he was his teacher.
Carla's point is spot and it should serve as a reminder for all of us in tech about what it means to be a mentor or a teacher. Mentoring is much more than helping another developer figure out a problem or learn a new skill. Many times mentors are the first cheerleaders we have and can leave a lasting impact on the people they help.
Tech still is addressing a lot of issues so it is more equitable and diverse. In order to make this a reality, it starts by mentoring and supporting programmers like Princess Programmer so we don't miss on what they bring to tech. As WeCoded gets ready to end, I hope reading this post reminds everyone why this celebration is important and gives others the courage to mentor new developers coming into tech or at least cheer on their own princess programmers in their own lives.
Janna Loeffler's tweet responding to the Reddit post is the best way to end this one. I hope if Princess Programmer reads this someday she sees all the support she has gotten from others in tech and how we are all sending her lots of love her way.
Janna Loeffler@jannaloeffler@eterry28 @laceynwilliams @techgirl1908 @ParissAthena @ladyleet @TheyWrestleTest @bria_sullivan @TaraWithTiaras Much love from one Princess Programmer to another. (Yes, I did wear that to work… yes, I did work for Disney at the time)10:11 AM - 16 Mar 2023
This content originally appeared on DEV Community and was authored by Sarah Bartley
Sarah Bartley | Sciencx (2023-03-17T02:07:13+00:00) Dear Princess Programmer: Keep Coding!. Retrieved from https://www.scien.cx/2023/03/17/dear-princess-programmer-keep-coding/
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