“It’s difficult, when you feel so intimidated, to speak up. I struggled with (that), from not knowing English, being scared to say something that didn’t translate correctly, then to being a woman in engineering and feeling like I could say something dumb. Now I’m working on that. It’s fine to speak up. Even if you’re wrong, it’s fine.”
Kassandra Sandoval
Microsoft software engineer and CCHS Class of 2012 alumna
Microsoft software engineer and Class of 2012 alumna Kassandra Sandoval stands in front of Clarke Central High School’s main entrance on Oct. 26 2021. Sandoval visited CCHS to talk to junior Jael Flores Zacarias about being a woman and minority in a male-dominated field. “I want (Flores Zacarias) to know that it is possible, I just don’t want her to kill herself over it. It is a lot of pressure that we put ourselves in, but it doesn’t necessarily have to be that way,” Sandoval said. “A bad grade is not the end of the road, you still have to keep going to your goal and that is graduating college, getting a job, whatever that may be.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
CCHS Class of 2012 alumna Kassandra Sandoval has had to overcome challenges in order to find confidence in her voice, both as an immigrant and as a software engineer.
Microsoft software engineer and Clarke Central High School Class of 2012 alumna Kassandra Sandoval is no stranger to having to find ways to speak up in challenging situations.
From learning English as a Peruvian immigrant, to learning programming languages as a software engineer to navigating a male-dominated field as a minority woman, Sandoval has struggled and strived to make her voice heard.
“That’s really difficult, when you feel so intimidated, to speak up. That’s something that I really struggled with overall, from not knowing English, being scared to say something that didn’t translate correctly, then to being a woman in engineering and feeling like I could say something dumb,” Sandoval said. “Now I’m working on that. It’s fine to speak up, even if you’re wrong it’s fine. At least you gave an idea.”
Sandoval’s journey began in the middle of seventh grade when she moved from Lima, Peru to Athens with her mother.
“I was really sad. I really didn’t want to come here, leave everything I know behind and start over. For the first maybe six months, all I wanted to do was go back (to Lima). But I realized, ‘This is my life now, I just have to go at it, I have to do what I came here to do,’” Sandoval said.
Language barriers presented a challenge for Sandoval, who spoke little English, but she worked hard to overcome them.
“The first thing I had to do was learn English. I was learning English in school, but I just felt so bad about myself, the fact that I couldn’t really even follow directions. I wasn’t learning anything, I couldn’t talk to my peers, I couldn’t talk to my teachers. I just felt very discouraged,” Sandoval said. “And so I made the extra effort to study online, to go to different random websites that taught English and I started learning that way.”
“Since I was little, my mom had drilled in my head, ‘Education, education.’ A lot of my family was like ‘you have to be someone in life and you have to get education to do that.’ And so I came here with that goal, ‘I have to go to school, go to college, get a job,’”
— Kassandra Sandoval,
Microsoft software engineer and CCHS Class of 2012 alumna
After graduating from Burney-Harris-Lyons Middle School, Sandoval attended CCHS starting in 2008. Her experience there helped her overcome some of the challenges she was facing, and she excelled academically due to her diligence and persistence.
“Since I was little, my mom had drilled in my head, ‘Education, education.’ A lot of my family was like ‘you have to be someone in life and you have to get education to do that.’ And so I came here with that goal, ‘I have to go to school, go to college, get a job,’” Sandoval said. “School was giving me the validation to make me feel good. So I kept pushing through that and wanting to do well, especially because I had great teachers.”
A page from the 2010 Gladius Yearbook is displayed. Kassandra Sandoval (third from left) attended CCHS starting in 2008, where she excelled academically, connected with peers and teachers and had an overall positive experience. “Really looking back, I think about my friends, the friends that I made here,” Sandoval said. “I met Mr. Altman in ninth grade. He saw what I was going through and gave me the encouragement and push that I needed to keep going.” Photo courtesy of Gladius Yearbook
English department teacher Ian Altman got to know Sandoval after having her in his class twice and was impressed by her drive.
“(Sandoval) had only had two years of English before I knew her. And so obviously she had clearly learned a lot to be placed in advanced English,” Altman said. “I realized that that’s pretty special already. She definitely made an A in my course, and she definitely read all kinds of books, so I was deeply impressed by her. This is an extremely bright kid who really is interested in learning. I was just gratified to see that.”
“I really like math and I really like computers, but not the way that a software engineer would see computers. I just thought they were cool.”
— Kassandra Sandoval,
Microsoft software engineer and CCHS Class of 2012 alumna
Through the variety of AP classes offered at CCHS, Sandoval found her passion for computer science, after having been exposed to computers from a young age.
“I really like math and I really like computers, but not the way that a software engineer would see computers. I just thought they were cool,” Sandoval said. “Since I was young, my mom had a computer business and so I’ve been around computers since I was little. My brother knew how to fix them, open them up, build them right from scratch. I really just fell into the world of the internet and computers, and so that’s why I decided to go for computer systems engineering.”
After graduating CCHS, Sandoval attended the University of Georgia and majored in systems engineering. From there, she worked as a software engineer for Avanade.
“I’ve been given a lot of opportunities. (At Avanade), I worked in small teams, bigger teams, I worked in leading positions, managerial positions. So I think I’ve learned a lot. And that’s the thing about software engineering, you can do a lot of different things,” Sandoval said. “After four years there I decided, ‘Hey, I think it’s time to do something new.’ And so I started doing interviews at bigger companies.”
Microsoft software engineer and Class of 2012 alumna Kassandra Sandoval stands in the hall in Clarke Central High School on Oct. 26 2021. English department teacher Ian Altman taught Sandoval while she was at CCHS and admires her spirit.“(Sandoval) is one of the coolest, nicest, most pleasant people to be around. But I also know that she has a rock solid inner core and you cannot get away with messing with her,” Altman said. “I just admire her spirit and her strength. It is something just awesome to behold. Somehow or another, she has already and she will continue to make the world a better place.” Photo by Lucas Donnelly
Sandoval received a job offer from Microsoft on Oct. 26 2021 after interviewing for the position on Oct. 14 2021, a process which involved four hours of interviews and coding questions.
“I felt confident about three (interview questions), but there was one that caught me off guard. After that I started trying to figure it out myself because I ran out of time during the interview, but I couldn’t let it go. I spent 30 minutes after the interview figuring it out. I told (the manager) this and I think he really liked that,” Sandoval said. “(With the job) I won’t feel happy until I’m actually there, but currently I feel relieved and very proud of myself because all of my work paid off.”
Sandoval has faced challenges as a woman and a minority in a male-dominated field. However, she is now more confident in herself and her work.
“At the beginning I had imposter syndrome, ‘Oh I don’t belong here, it’s all men, they’re going to think I’m stupid.’ All (that was) in my head. Once I actually got to work with them, it’s not like they were giving me the easiest stuff, (just) the work that was necessary to be done,” Sandoval said. “If you are working and you have good teams, you should encourage each other. (My teammates) were like, ‘You’re good at code, you just need to speak up a little bit.’”
(Sandoval’s achievements) show other girls that we can do it. Meeting someone in person is a lot different than just reading about them, and it just makes them more of a human. (Sandoval coming to CCHS) shows that she does care, and she’s willing to help younger generations.”
–Jael Flores Zacarias,
junior
Sandoval has gone beyond speaking up for herself– she’s now helping others to do the same. On Oct. 26, 2021, she visited CCHS to talk with junior Jael Flores Zacarias, who is considering going into engineering but noticed a lack of representation in her engineering class.
“(Sandoval’s achievements) show other girls that we can do it. Meeting someone in person is a lot different than just reading about them, and it just makes them more of a human,” Flores Zacarias said. “(Sandoval coming to CCHS) shows that she does care, and she’s willing to help younger generations.”
Sandoval hopes to inspire other women and minorities to pursue careers in engineering, despite the hardships that come from underrepresentation.
“It’s been rare to see women who are Hispanic or even just of color in general (in my workplaces). When you do meet them, I feel really appreciative to see that. It inspires me to keep working hard, because if they got to this position so can I,” Sandoval said. “I want to do the same thing for other people, especially minorities. There’s so many stories of kids that come here at a young age, same situation as me. I want them to also have inspiration and just know that it is possible. You can do it.”
