My name is Octavia Olivia Sumailah. I come from Sierra Leone, West Africa. In general, it is globally uncommon for African women develop a career in Technology. In fact, in my country, even the few women who had the courage to study computing and technology in the university are not having the opportunity to work in the field after graduation.
An interesting question would be why then is she enthusiastic about technology. When I finished school, I was uncertain about what I wanted to study in college. After our school results were out, I took it to my Dad’s office ‘Ministry of Education’ to showed my Dad. I started wondering about my Dad’s reacting as I sat quietly. His secretary took the result from me and told my Dad that he has being secretly watching my interactions with computer and thought that it will be an excellent career for me. He went further to say that my result will be accepted at the then Njala University College which was less that a block from their office. My Dad instantly approved his consent by giving him money to buy the application form for me. In less than a week I was offered admission. I feel in love with computing technology since that day. With zero background I started my National Diploma in Data processing and Information Technology and completed it with a grade point average higher than 3.8. For the past 10 years, I have been learning about information technology.
The big question is: why should I abandon such a career for something else? In fact, I am falling in love with technology daily. It is certain that I will not give up, but rather persevere until I succeed. That said, I am a currently an Applied Information Technology Graduate Pathways student at INTO George Mason University. Also, I studied Academic English for one semester at INTO George Mason University. I am a former student of the Institute of Public Administration and Management (I.P.A.M.) University of Sierra Leone. I earned Bachelor of Science (Hons) Information Systems from the Institute of Public Administration and Management (I.P.A.M – University of Sierra Leone).
OCTAVIA OLIVIA SUMAILAH 