Dreams Do Not Die At Sunrise

Guest blog by Fabiola Addamo–Reflections of a TechWoman Mentor from Catania 

Painting by Fabiola Addamo entitled TechWomen

Reflections of a TechWoman Mentor from Catania 

I believe in courage. And, I believe that everything is possible in life.

In the city of Catania I was an unemployed girl, full of dreams. I finished my degree in piano performance at the Vincenzo Bellini Musical Institute in 1996. Despite the fact that I was a young, award winning, talented pianist, I was never able to secure concrete job opportunities. I also attended law school and completed 11 out of 22 exams required to finish the degree. This was before I took off on a trip to the United States.

In my household I am the first person who attended university. I was never exposed to professional career options at home. My dad worked in a bank and my mom was a housewife. We were an average Sicilian family. During my youth, I often felt like a bird with clipped wings. I was never able to understand the reason why life was predictably flat.

Sukaina Al-Nasrawi: Motivated Arab Woman in Technology and 2011 TechWomen Alumna

Sukaina Al-Nasrawi, 2011 TechWomen Alumna

In the summer of 2011, TechWomen Mentee Sukaina Al Nasrawi passed the worldwide 2010 United Nations (UN) examination for recruitment to the professional category in web design/development. This is a highly competitive process within the UN Secretariat aimed at recruiting young, high-caliber professionals from around the globe. Sukaina, who is Iraqi and lives in Lebanon, ranked among the top candidates and was the only staff member at the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA) to pass the examination for 2010.