Your Django Story: Leona So

This is a post in our Your Django Story series where we highlight awesome ladies who work with Django. Read more about it here. 

Leona is a Mathematics tutor and an ILT champion at a college in Manchester, apart from teaching A-level Mathematics, she also trains and supports staff in the use of Information Learning Technology (ILT) in teaching Mathematics.

She is passionate about coding and technology, she attends many tech events, including Django Girls Coventry, and has organised three Django Girls Manchester to date and many other tech-related events. She is also an active committee member of the Institute of Engineering and Technology and is currently the Chair of IET Manchester. 

At PyConUK 2017, Leona received John Pinner Award, for her services in the Python community through Django Girls Manchester.

Aside from her main job and volunteering in the community, she enjoys travelling around the world, cycling, hiking, rock climbing, archery and ballet.

How did your story with code start?

I first learnt about programming during my degree many years ago, I always enjoyed programming though I ended up not pursuing programming as my career. Since I have been teaching at the college and was trying to find ways to explain how Mathematics is used in real life context, I have started to program again. Originally I learnt Python as a tool in teaching Mathematics. This then became something I’d do during my spare time until I became active in related MeetUp groups.

In 2015, I was planning to attend PyConUK and found an opportunity to attend Django Girls there. I thought this could be a great opportunity to learn about Django and find out more about becoming a programmer. So I did. The workshop went very well, and a few months later I organised a Django Girls workshop in Manchester, in February 2016. Since then, we have organised two more workshops in 2017. The most recent one we ran the workshop as part of the National Coding Week as a Joint event with Rail Girls Manchester.

What did you do before becoming a programmer?

I have always been a teacher and used to teach in Secondary School until I moved on to study Masters in Engineering with Management. As I was planning to change career at the time I was finishing my Masters, I had an opportunity to teach at a college. Although this is not a programming job, I have been trying to use this opportunity to teach some of my students how to code and show them how coding links massively to Mathematics. Along with my involvement in many tech events in the community, I am still hoping in the near future I will pursue a career in programming when an opportunity arises.

What do you love the most about coding?

Everything. It’s not just a logical puzzle but there are many ways you can code to achieve the same thing, little changes could make a massive improvement to a program. What I also love about coding is that no matter what the first language you speak or write on a daily basis, you can collaborate with anyone in the world as everyone uses the same syntax as long as it is the same programming language, whether it’s Python, C++, etc.

Why Django?

Django is not the easiest to learn in the world (as in other languages and frameworks), but it’s one of the most structured, clean and logical frameworks. The framework is well documented, and with a big community, I can always find an answer if I struggle with anything (so far!). Without Django, I wouldn’t have met so many like-mind people in the community, and talked about the interesting projects that are going on. So, the framework itself and also the community! Having said that, there is still a lot to learn!

What cool projects are you working on at the moment/planning on working on in the near future?

I am currently working on a project in Micro:Bit, writing resources for teachers to link the computing and mathematics curriculum. Having recently been appointed as a Computing at School (CAS) Master teacher, I will eventually be delivering training sessions to support teachers in the community.

And with the success of Django Girls Manchester workshops, I have been supporting one of the MeetUp groups CodeUp Manchester, leading a Django Girls working group there on a monthly basis. Claire Wicher (my co-organiser) and I will continue to host future workshops, hoping this will be an annual event!

In terms of within the Django Girls community, I support the team in maintaining the Django Girls tutorial on GitHub, and I’ve been helping to translate the Django Girls Tutorial to Traditional Chinese.

What are you the proudest of?

Knowing that Django Girls Manchester workshop really made a difference to some of our attendees. I am proud of one of the attendees, in particular, Amanda, she attended the workshop, did further studies in programming and is now a junior programmer six months after participating this workshop. Two other mentors from Cambridge went home and consider to organise their local Django Girls workshop, and also another mentor supported my monthly Django Girls group at CodeUp and is planning to become one of the organisers for our second Django Girls Manchester!

What are you curious about?

Psychology, the interaction between one another, the culture in different sectors, and how one little event can influence each other’s lives. In terms of programming and technology, the pace of it getting more advanced so quickly, and what we can do to promote more women in technology (and engineering).

What do you like doing in your free time? What’s your hobby?

I like to keep myself busy. I attend many MeetUp groups regularly; many are tech groups, such as Python User Group and BarCamp. I volunteer in a number of MeetUp groups, institutions and in local events. As mentioned previously, I am the lead of Django Girls group at CodeUp Manchester. I am also an active STEM ambassador, which I volunteer to promote STEM to schoolchildren, via supporting events such as the Manchester Science Festival. For The Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET), I have been organising many engineering and technology related events to promote these to the public in the last few years, and linking with local universities and industries, big events such as CHAIN Manchester, a day Engineering conference for young engineers and students, to hosting yearly worldwide competition, Present Around the World competition for the IET. As a result of my involvement within the IET, I had chances to give a few public speeches at conferences! And, not to forget to mention the on-going support I give to Django Girls which I enjoy doing too!

In my spare time, I also like to learn more about programming and new tools to support my job. Since attending Picademy earlier this year, I am still exploring opportunities with the new Raspberry Pi, learning a little about physical programming.

I am a fan of all kinds of sports. I visited many places to explore different cycling routes, from the North, Scotland, cycling around their lochs which have beautiful scenes, to Wales, next to the coast in Llyn Peninsula, to the South, Dorset and further away to Isle of Skye and Ireland. I also enjoy both short and long distance hikes. I’ve been up to the highest three peaks in the UK, Ben Nevis, Scafell Pike and Snowden, and other similar mountains. With long hikes, I went West Highland Way in Scotland last year, 97 miles, and completed Great Glen Way also in Scotland this year, 79 miles. I am hoping in the future to climb other mountains in Europe, and also other long trails. Not to mention my other interests in lead rock climbing and archery, both require completely different sets of skills physically and mentally.

Apart from these, I occasionally write blogs about my experience in travelling and events I attended in my web page. And if I can find any more spare times, I like reading a book about psychology, and do more Maths! 

Do you have any advice/tips for programming beginners?

Don’t be afraid to make mistakes, you’ll learn from it and become a better programmer. Experiment as much as you can, you may be able to find some surprises.

How did attending a Django Girls workshop influence your life/career? What did you get out of attending a Django Girls workshop?

I have kept in touch with attendees and learnt that a few attendees have changed their life since attending the workshop. Some went further study and now are programmers of big firms.

We also have success stories from the mentors; two from Cambridge decided to run a Django Girls event there; and another has been supporting our aftermath events, monthly CodeUp workshop!

Thank you so much, Leona!

If you would like to suggest someone to be featured in the Your Django Story series (or would like to nominate yourself!), please email us at story@djangogirls.org!