MAY 7, 2021 — Anna Arroyo is an inspiring Latina looking to build up her community by closing the gender gap in software engineering. The 2021 computer science graduate next has her sights set on her new job with Twitter.
Born and raised in Austin, Anna’s first interactions with computer science were influenced by family — her father who works in the information systems field, her aunt who majored in computer science and works for IBM, and her uncle who is a computer engineer. In high school, she enrolled in an AP computer science course which ultimately led to the beginning of her educational career at UTSA.
“The reason I love computer science so much is because of how much problem-solving it requires,” Anna said. “Computer science can be used to solve so many problems in the world today and that is very exciting to me.”
While women make up almost half of the workforce, only one of four people in tech fields are women according to the National Center for Women in Technology. This is a downward trend from the early 1990s when women comprised about one-third of all people employed in the tech sector. Those statistics drive Anna’s passion to enter the industry, and her success at UTSA paved the way.
As soon as she stepped foot on campus four years ago for her freshman year, the Honors College student said she got involved. She participated in school events, joined student organizations, started building relationships and taking on leadership roles. Joining the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) at UTSA was a turning point. She participated in the university hackathon, reaching the semifinals as a freshman. She created an Android app to improve ACM’s communications by developing a source of information such as a calendar of meetings, sign-ins and more.
Anna grew within the ranks to junior officer and eventually to vice president of ACM-W at UTSA, a subgroup that tailors its activities and meetings toward women in computer science. She then served as vice president for the ACM at UTSA and executive director of RowdyHacks. In her final year at UTSA, she served as an advisor and mentor to the current vice president and executive director of RowdyHacks.
Her journey did not stop there. In 2019, she joined Develop-HER, a two-day professional development program for women in computer science at Twitter’s San Francisco office. This eventually paved the way for her to secure an internship with the social media company in the fall of 2020.
Beyond Twitter, some of her most impressive accomplishments have been with UTSA’s tech community. She helped organize the first virtual RowdyHacks, which registered over 300 students worldwide. Moreover, she raised more than $40,000 in sponsorships with the help of the UTSA Career Center, the UTSA Department of Computer Science, and Jianwei Niu, interim academic director of the UTSA School of Data Science, associate dean of the UTSA University College and faculty advisor to ACM-W.
“I owe ACM everything because they have given me my best friends, community and support group,” Anna said. “It made my college experience so great and is definitely a huge part of who I am that contributed to my success in college.”
Following her internship with Twitter, Anna secured a full-time position with the social media giant, as a software engineer with the Media Foundation Client Team in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Her work will help accelerate and drive the media-related features that get rolled out to Twitter's users.
“It genuinely feels great working for a company that shares the same passion I have to create a more diverse workforce in tech,” she said.
Anna hopes to one day earn her teaching credentials so she can teach the discipline to children. She would like to become an advocate and spread her knowledge of computer science to future generations.
UTSA Today is produced by University Communications and Marketing, the official news source of The University of Texas at San Antonio. Send your feedback to news@utsa.edu. Keep up-to-date on UTSA news by visiting UTSA Today. Connect with UTSA online at Facebook, Twitter, Youtube and Instagram.
Join Community-Engaged Digital Scholarship Hub (CEDISH) and the Digital Humanities Student Association (DHSO) at UTSA for an enlightening workshop on "Responsible Datasets in Context," sponsored by the Mozilla Foundation. Participants will gain insights into creating contextually rich datasets, developing data essays, and crafting effective visualizations.
Assembly Room, 4th Floor (4.04.22), John Peace LibraryFinalist candidates for the dean of the College of the Sciences will discuss their vision for the college.
Multipurpose Room, BSE 2.102, Main CampusJoin us for this one-night-only event to kickoff "Pueblos del Maíz" - a celebration that pays homage to the vital role "maíz", or corn, has played in San Antonio's 300+ years of culinary heritage.
Carriqui, 239 E Grayson St, San Antonio, TX 78215Join the conversation around the current status of voting rights in Texas at this flagship event produced by the Southwest Voter Registration Education Project in honor of their 50th anniversary.
Downtown CampusThere are many citation managers. Which one is right for you? This workshop will explain what a citation manager is and how it can help you organize your citations, insert citations as you write your paper, and generate your bibliography. If you plan to attend one of our hands-on Endnote®, Zotero®, or BibTeX® / LaTex® workshops, we recommend that you start with this overview.
Virtual EventJoin us for a recital featuring a variety of Hispanic music from Spain and Latin America. The evening’s entertainment will include pieces by UTSA faculty, the UTSA Mariachi Los Paisanos, and special guest artists including the director of Texas A&M International University's Mariachi Internacional.
UTSA Recital HallJoin Dr. Rachel Yvonne Cruz, Assistant Professor of Mexican American Studies, for an interactive discussion on how music can challenge patriarchy, sexism, and colonialism through a guided discussion and live acoustic performance.
Assembly Room, 4th Floor (4.04.22), John Peace Library, Main CampusThe University of Texas at San Antonio is dedicated to the advancement of knowledge through research and discovery, teaching and learning, community engagement and public service. As an institution of access and excellence, UTSA embraces multicultural traditions and serves as a center for intellectual and creative resources as well as a catalyst for socioeconomic development and the commercialization of intellectual property - for Texas, the nation and the world.
To be a premier public research university, providing access to educational excellence and preparing citizen leaders for the global environment.
We encourage an environment of dialogue and discovery, where integrity, excellence, inclusiveness, respect, collaboration and innovation are fostered.
UTSA is a proud Hispanic Serving Institution (HSI) as designated by the U.S. Department of Education .
The University of Texas at San Antonio, a Hispanic Serving Institution situated in a global city that has been a crossroads of peoples and cultures for centuries, values diversity and inclusion in all aspects of university life. As an institution expressly founded to advance the education of Mexican Americans and other underserved communities, our university is committed to promoting access for all. UTSA, a premier public research university, fosters academic excellence through a community of dialogue, discovery and innovation that embraces the uniqueness of each voice.
