At fifteen years old, the only thing Irma Olguin Jr knew about the PSAT test was that it was a ticket to get out of class for a half day. Little did she know, that the PSAT was also her ticket to a future she never dreamed of. The daughter of immigrant farm laborers from Mexico, Irma only knew a life of field labor in the central valley of California. There, her family, like so many other migrants, lived out their destiny looking for crops as they ripened so they could work the land, hoping each month to have made enough money to pay their bills.
But Irma’s destiny changed when she scored well on the PSAT. Marketing materials started arriving at her home from colleges, and when one letter arrived offering her a full scholarship, Irma allowed herself to imagine life beyond the fields in California for the first time. Irma’s subsequent career in technology led her to start Bitwise Industries with her co-founder, Jake Soberal. The mission of Bitwise stems from Irma’s unique personal story, experiences, and lessons learned about how to provide opportunities for those individuals in underserved communities who would otherwise not even dream of a career in technology.
Read the full article at Forbes.com.
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