Breaking the Code: Finding My Voice in the Interview Room

In a city that never sleeps, where towering glass buildings reflect stories of ambition and grit, I learned that success wasn’t just programmed in the languages of Java or C++; sometimes, it spoke in confidence, eye contact, and the perfect pause between a pitch and a handshake.

Growing up in the Bronx as the child of Haitian immigrants, I witnessed firsthand how talent doesn’t always translate to opportunity. My mother, once a respected chemical technician in Port-au-Prince, now supported our family by packaging pharmaceuticals—her degree, her experience, and her dreams, silenced by the barriers of language and context. I wanted better—not only for me but for kids like me: children of sacrifice, ambition, and a quiet, unwavering resilience.

From Code to Confidence

My first encounter with STEM was through a cracked Lenovo laptop rescued from a neighborhood cleanup. I taught myself to code at twelve using public Wi-Fi and outdated tutorials. I fell in love with the logic, the possibility of creating something structured from chaos—perhaps because it mirrored the world around me.

By high school, I led a robotics team and found comfort behind screens, solving real-world problems with mechanical arms and sensor arrays. But as the time came to apply for college internships and present at technology summits, I realized there was a growing disconnect between what I could build and how I could explain it. I couldn’t find the words to present myself with the polish I saw from others. My voice shrank in interview rooms. I hesitated, second-guessed, and fell silent in moments that required clarity and poise.

I began to see a pattern among students who, like me, came from immigrant backgrounds. We weren’t just battling algebra equations and computer bugs—we were battling years of cultural conditioning that taught us humility over self-promotion, compliance over advocacy, and listening over speaking.

A Classroom Without Walls

It was during this pivotal time that I discovered the STEM Educational Institute (SEI). Tucked into the corner of a shared workspace in downtown Manhattan, SEI offered what our school couldn't—mentors who looked like us, believed in us, and more importantly, introduced us to the unexpected side of STEM: the art of storytelling.

Through SEI, I joined a pilot program with Big Interview, an artificial intelligence-powered interview training platform. At first, speaking to a computer camera about myself felt artificial and awkward. But its AI-fed feedback loop helped me notice the uptick in my voice when I was unsure, how often I used filler words, or how little I smiled. The digital coaching didn’t just reshape how I communicated—it reawakened how I saw myself. I began recording mock interviews in the mornings before school, after robotics meetings, and once, even tucked between bookshelves during library duty. Slowly, the barrier began to crack.

I practiced telling my story—the story of my mother’s unvalidated degree, of software built from salvaged tech, of a voice longing to be heard not for its accent, but for its insight.

Rediscovering My Worth

SEI taught me a revelation stark yet simple: excellence without expression is a locked vault. I could have built the best algorithmic trading prototype, and still be passed over if I couldn’t advocate for myself. That realization shifted my approach, not only to interviews but to every aspect of my academic and social life.

Last month, after an intense two-round cycle with a flagship STEM organization, I received my first acceptance to their summer engineering internship. The panel noted the clarity and vision in my responses—what they didn’t know was those words were built over months of late-night sessions with a computer coach and a nonprofit that believed in kids from places like East Tremont.

A New Blueprint

As I gear up for college, I carry two identities: the engineer who loves logic and the orator who learned to translate it. I want to pursue both—combining technical innovation with advocacy—building future solutions, but also reshaping who gets to design them.

Programs like SEI and tools like Big Interview didn't just enhance my resume; they empowered me with the soft skills to rebuild a lifelong limitation. In learning to code systems, I also learned to decode myself.

And in that process, I didn’t just write a script—I found my voice.

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Reference Sources:

• “Big Interview and STEM Educational Institute Partner to Bridge the Interview Gap for NYC’s Underrepresented Youth Using AI.” Morningstar. AccessWire, Dec 11, 2025

• “Alsobrooks Introduces Bill to Break Barriers in STEM and Strengthen America’s Future Workforce.” Office of U.S. Senator Angela Alsobrooks