From 2.6 GPA to Microsoft Software Engineer 

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Showing your grades to the public and delivering such a helpful vid about how you STILL landed a job at Microsoft is so so admirable. Thank you for showing your grades as it gives me motivation that I can do it too. You made me believe in myself. Please keep up the good work!!!!

I RELATED SO HARD TO THIS VIDEO. Majored in CS, got C’s and B’s in my class. I ended up taking a break and BOOM, COVID hit. I ended up working instead of continuing school due to the limitations & my lack of will. I attended a small gathering and some guy told me about a program called Year Up. I say it’s too good to be true. During the middle of COVID, my job had to lay everyone off again. Soooooooo what better to do than to join Year Up. I signed up and chose a track in Project Management. I didn’t know what the hell I was doing, or what project management was. 5 months in and I’m interning for a SaaS company. I work as a TPM in the security department. I hacked one of our products unintentionally and was told to keep doing it. 6 months later I get hired as a AppSec Engineer making 6 figures at 21 lmfao. Sometimes I don’t even know wtf I’m doing. Hope this motivates people.

This is the type of story that not only needs to be heard by every struggling college student, but also is exactly the story I have always wanted to tell as some who went through this exact experience. Thanks so much for sharing, this is a fantastic video!

I'm a software engineer student in my second year and I feel like a failure. Even though I was an excellent student in high school now I just can't seem to figure out anything. My lowest grades are in coding whereas they are supposed to be my best. I have this thoughts that I overestimated myself and I always compare myself to others. This video really helped me understand that am my own enemy. My mindset is what is holding me back. I'm scared of failure and of what others are going to think about me and that's why I'm failing.

This was me... Actually graduated with a 2.1 GPA in college. Graduated from highschool with a 3.7 GPA. Turns out I did better with certs and self learning. I later found out that I was ADHD and bipolar. Got help, manage to get my masters with a 4.0 GPA. With that I have learned several things. I HAVE to have a system to follow, some sort of structure. Two, I HAVE to have my problems broken into small pieces. Three, habits are a must in my life.

Once you realize that college is really about just teaching yourself all the content, it becomes much easier to miss class (provided attendance isn't a grade) and be a lot more productive with your time. I often found that skipping class to study from the PPTs myself led to better outcomes than droning in a lecture for 1.5hrs just wishing it would end. Throughout undergrad, I'd say I attended class no more than 50% of the time and managed to graduate magna cum laude. Now I'm in grad school and it's mostly the same. I go to class every now and then, but mostly learn on my own. Of course, this requires a lot of discipline so I don't recommend everyone follow in my footsteps, but if you are motivated, I don't see how it would detriment your situation.

Good Topic: ... But really GPA or Academic Success/Failure has no correlation to Industry... I graduated with 2.5 and now have worked with several fortune 500 companies... College can be a waste of time... Thanks for covering this topic "Fixed Mindset" vs new ways.. Thanks, Pooja

I currently have a similar GPA in college and have missed many opportunities because of it. I felt like I limited myself to my fullest potential because of it, which has made it hard to find the motivation to continue learning. This video was very insightful on your struggles and how you've overcame them, and makes me confident knowing that others have experienced this problem. Your video helped me realize that although grades CAN matter, they do not entirely reflect on you as a person. I feel more hopeful about overcoming this mindset and look forward to not only self-growth but to learn more in computer science. Thank you for sharing your story with us!

The authenticity is amazing! If you search youtube for how to kickstart a job at one of these top companies, everything that comes up is about geniuses with perfect grades, nobody mentions struggling or difficulties. Thank you for sharing your journey, it's really inspiring.

Congratulations Pooja !!! Your Journey is very very Motivating. keep inspiring us...

pooja thanks alot, i'm Cs student, in one of the top universties here in israel, struggling my way through the proccess, but u just gave me a push so thanks again, its time to fixm y mindset:)

really loved this video Pooja! I felt very similarly throughout college and even after i had lots of trouble in my classes and finding jobs. happy that it worked out for both of us and for anyone else who feels similarly out there it'll work out just keep working hard! :)

Wow! I have a similar experience right now. My grades are just ooof!. Not that I don't work hard, but I genuinely do care about my education and still look forward to improving but it's never it. Your experience is just encouraging. See you in a year, tell you how it goes.🙃

you really have no idea how inspiring your journey is , first the courage to show your grades and the dedication and will you have. You truly are amazing

I am right now in college with a log GPA and I'm really average at coding. I lose motivation to code and stuff. Your journey really inspired me to keep faith in the process. I hope I can land a job in big tech one day and travel the world!

Thank you for putting together and sharing this amazing video! I struggle with things like self doubt, imposter syndrome, and anxiety. Your video is truly inspiring. I’m glad that you’ve been able to climb those psychological mountains and find your way!

Stumbling upon this video has brought me so much release. I’ve been wanting to get into software development for a couple years, but I just kept thinking how maybe I’m not smart enough, I always imagined software developers as those people who were just born as the smartest person in the room. I have always had many good opportunities with jobs so I dropped out of college after only a semester because I thought maybe my life was meant to be in sales or sales management. Well, although I’m still doing well for myself and have a couple good upcoming businesses opportunities, Ive come to noticed that it’s just not for me and I’ve outgrown all that. Again I kept thinking about software development and started looking into local college courses and then this video popped up on my recommendations. It’s truly refreshing to hear your story because it gives me hope and reason to believe that I can, in fact, learn how to code and become a successful developer. With all that being said, thank you for sharing this experience with us all ❤

Great share.... I'm much much older but went back to school for my AAST in Business Intelligence. Programming 110 basic HTML, CSS and JavaScript. Our I had an A going into the midterm, but definitely felt lost in that everyone else seemed to understand what was going on. My midterm project worked but when the instructor went over the answer in great detail I burst into tears because my solution looked nothing like the answer. The concept if get document by ID escaped me. I had done it but not cleanly and didn't understand what I was doing. Finally other classmates had to admit they didn't really get it either. Second Programming class. Programming 120 object oriented programming with C#. Again an A heading into the final. 2 hrs to build a project based on key items. Literally modeling a project we'd worked on all quarter. I was able to complete all the parts except one, but not able to get the project to work. I didn't understand thar variables could be named anything so while I was trying to answer the question create a variable named myCar..... I didn't get it. I was expecting an x, y or a z.... funny thing our instructor was like your still mad at me about that.... I'm like what do you mean.... lol... I'm not a programmer. I have to work 10x harder than everyone else. But connecting to the database, setting up and optimizing the server, writing queries. Pulling data from multiple sources. I got it. That why I'm in BI. But I recognize my weakness in programming ,it's not intuitive. I can troubleshoot and problem solve. 2 quarters later I had that light bulb moment by tutoring others.

I’m so encouraged!!! You have such an inspiring journey, Poojah! Glad you made your dreams come true!

Thank you so much for this video! God bless you.

Hey Pooja, I really enjoyed your video! I felt like this was made somewhat for me personally in a way. I feel like I am in a very similar position myself with my confidence and everything where it is at. I think I even had a very similar gpa as yours ~2.7. Honestly, when I finally finished college I felt (and still do) pretty discouraged to make something, or anything. Most of my problems were during the last two years at uni where I struggled to be productive, and I slid by on the minimum.

Yurrrr, thank you for sharing that. I Struggled and still struggle a lot with a similar mindset and I remember watching some of your videos 6-7 months trying to muster the courage, faith and positive mindset to even give learning to code another chance as a junior in College, i almost gave up. Fast forward, I have an internship for the summer, My mindset is way better and I’m taking the initiative to continue to code and break this barrier. I hope to create a YT channel too!

Hi. I really liked your video as I went through the same think with having 6.3 gpa(2.7 US). online studies and having no one to study with really made my confidence go downhill. I just would like to emphasize the importance of collaboration which even in your life played a very big part. I am working in a small company as well and collaborating with people has given me the belief that I'm not a worthless individual.

Thanks for sharing! My B.S. in Health Admin was low compared to my A.S. Doing well in M.S. Psychology and started a Software Engineering Bootcamp , So, glad they had taken a chance.

This is nuts… your journey is sooo inspiring and the stage i’m at right now is similar to you… I had a 2.7 GPA as a mechanical engineer and I’m at Target rn as a TLP! Im from MN and I also had a youtube channel during covid 😂

This is the most honest video I've ever seen about breaking into tech! Love it!

Thankyou for saying this! I needed that.

Best video of my week video list. Thanks you so much for sharing your story. I’m currently in a same sort of situation: I did pretty good start in college,but I was so badly depressed in my 3rd semester and lost all inspiration about anything and just by 1 semester my entire gpa crashed. Afterwards 😢 I got so scared about everything and felt I messed up my whole career. Your getting up story really motivating.

I appreciate you sharing your story. This was really helpful and motivating. I always thought my low GPA is the end of my career. Thank you for being honest and vulnerable. You have a new follower ❤

I’m somewhat going through this right now, just finished my freshman year in college and I’m just happy enough to pass my classes but I struggled to understand several concepts especially OOP. Somehow I was able to get an internship this summer, I just winged it and I didn’t really get any technical questions. First week into the internship and I just wanna cry. I feel like I’m a fraud. But watching this video is giving me some motivation to keep going and be more kinder to myself. I just hope I get the hang of it. 🤞🏻😖

Thanks for sharing all this lessons, I’m in college and sometimes I have this impostor syndrome. But this video really made me see things from a different perspective and encourage more myself. Thank you again!

Thankfully I got this recommended at the right time....this is something I can relate to.. I'm in my final high school year and I have always been a straight A student till covid broke out. I got into such a comfort zone, missing classes and procrastinating, it seems like my mind is paralysed. I'm trying really hard to change this aspect of mine... that's the prime goal for me in 2023

Loved the honesty and persistence. Very motivating. Keep it up!

Hi Pooja, thank you for making this video. I relate to you so much. I was originally an electrical engineering major in community college and honestly, at the time, I wasn't ready for college. I've always known I was good at math but my passion was always in electronics. I actually didn't do well in high school in the AP/honors classes and in lieu of my performance, i still kept taking them because I thought that was the right move. My counselor was useless. I got accepted by an extremely low ranking college out of high school but I opted to go to community college. My counselor told me on my graduation that "I should hit you right now for this decision but because its your graduation, I won't" I genuinely thought that I could do a lot better than my high school performance because I didn't actually try hard in high school. Well, you bring my bad habits and mentality into college and I end up performing worse. I basically spend 5.5 years at community college, struggling in the calculus-based physics classes and calculus 2/3. My GPA was so low (sub-3.0) that no universities accepted me for their electrical engineering program. Out of fear, I basically switch majors to math because that was the only general major that could somewhat be tied to electrical engineering, applied for winter applications, and got accepted by ONLY the same university that accepted me out of high school. Out of desperation, I took the opportunity. With a lot of regret, I sort of busted ass the next 3.5 years and was able to pull up my GPA to a 3.27 overall and 3.59 university GPA. By the time I graduated, I was jaded. I hated school for being super unsupported of me and my failures and to this day, I have a vendetta against these stupid colleges for blocking me from studying what I wanted to study and also not providing support when I was struggling in school due to mental health issues. No one told me that I could take a break from school. Anyways, I started to gravitate towards electronics-related jobs and started exploring online, asking for advice in many subreddits. Everyone was giving me hate and showing disapproval, telling me to go back to school to get the "right degree". I actually landed an embedded software engineering internship in my 2nd-to-last year of college, didn't do well it but learned a lot. The last year of college, I basically put in the least amount of time I could towards my classes and instead,I focused on learning embedded systems programming by taking courses from sites like Udemy and Cousera. I learned how to program in C and learned some electronics and how to program microcontrollers. Post graduation, I continued my self-study while applying for embedded software engineering jobs. I got rejected most of the time and there were a small handful of jobs that I made it to the last round but didn't get hired. At the 8 month mark, I finally received offers for jobs. I got 2 offers: both from relatively big companies. I picked the job that was much closer to my interests and now I work as an embedded software engineer, been at the company for over 2 years now. I'm still continuing to learn as I have a lot of knowledge to bridge. I honestly get a lot of hate from other engineers in this field as I'm not traditional path as they are. But, this is what I want so I won't let anyone stop me. Self-learning and posting my personal portfolio was my way out. It only takes 1 company to give you a chance.

This is the best video I have ever watched about coding and has completely changed my mindset! Thank you so much!

This was really inspiring. I went to college for animal science with the intention to attend vet school. During covid I realized this wasn’t the path for me. About 8 months ago I started learning to code now I’m and taking pre-req classes to pursue a masters in comp sci with a track in SE. I often feel like I’m not a good enough coder. Your story and you bound a woman pushed me to keep going. Thank you ❤

Thank you for this. I recently started learning HTML/CSS in hopes to one day getting a job in tech. I know I have to learn a couple more languages, but I'm really trying. Sometimes it's hard to motivate myself once I hit something I don't understand completely. But I have to keep on doing it. And congrats on your success!

Wow Pooja. I love the authenticity and honesty throughout this video. You showed self-reflection and resilient in overcoming the fear/ self-doubt. This is so inspiring girl! I can completely related to “I’m a bad coder “ mindset. I’ve been reflecting a lot and realised it’s the internalised gender bias in my head and I had no clue where it came from. I’m working on that by self-affirmation, putting in the work and learn to enjoy the process. Thanks for the motivation girl !

I'm having the same problem with chemistry, I'm glad to hear that is passable

this helped me a lot, thank you

Very nice content and journey Pooja!! Keep inspriring people.

Hi Pooja thank you so much for sharing your story. Im in a same situation that I'm graduating in this Dec with barely a 3.0 and still feels like not knowing anything about programming. This summer I joined the CTI Accelerate program that taught me about fixed mindset vs growth mindset. It changed me a lot by knowing there're always THINGS I can learn.

Thank you for this.

One of the best videos that I’ve seen so far, can relate to so many things in here. Thank you for making your story public ❤

Hey I was watching your videos and Im an undergrad in computer science, I'm having a difficult time in classes . I really love your videos and your story very informative but also I feel hopeful about my future in computer science. I also agree that our mindset has a lot to do with how we perform, and once we stop worrying and looking at it in a positive perspective, doors will open, if we continue to think negative we will get get negative outcomes but when we switch to positive mindset we'll have more positive outcomes

This is super inspiring. Ngl your story is pretty similar to mine and I am at the point of giving up but this story is… damn girl… thanks for sharing ❤️ ❤

This is the most relatable and best video ever made. I expected the "opposites" of what happened, like I imagined you acing the CompSci classes, or that you gave the Amazon interview a try and got in, or that you didn't actually fail that many interviews. It was so eye opening to watch this video because I too suffer from a mindset problem. I won't lie, I don't have much passion in coding or CompSci but I am stuck with it due to financial issues, I always thought of myself as someone who has bad logic, and naturally that got projected in my study habits, I don't study enough or dedicate a lot of time to actually code and solve problems and projects, but this video made me realise that it's persistence and mindset that at the end of the day matters. Also you video made me realise how much the tech community makes coding look easy when it's not. Problem solving might look intuitive but at the end of the day it all boils down to practice and hence recognising patterns and applying tricks, all of which can either be done with great amount of passion or through a lot of hard work, no one can just sit one day and do it all. I am like so in love with this video, whenever I feel down imma watch this.

Yo...this vdo did more effect on me than all the gym and hustle culture vdos did. Im pumped and and ready to put the work in. Thanks a lot Pooja!

Wow this is amazing.. I'm studying cybersecurity at the moment, but already have my programming essentials certificate from my school, and I have an interest in a career as a software engineer now. This video really inspired me and I appreciate you!

Part of the issue inherent with college and an also unavoidable hump when doing some type of "tested" learning is that you are simultaneously trying to learn all that you can to comprehend your responsibilities, while also balancing that with your "I have to pass this exam" feelings... Those two things don't always coincide. Classes have to have a way to gauge whether you're taking in the material but the test likely won't cover every pertinent aspect of your knowledge. It can be easier to actually learn off the clock without the pressure as long as you're willing to fail multiple times despite doing however you're doing grade-wise. Since you may not have a whole lot of time to do this whole taking 12 to 18+ units, it may not come until you have some downtime.

Muah, thank you for being so real. This was such a well-made video!! Im still a sophomore in college and I have found myself feeling the same sometimes, your video defintely helped me strengthen my own mindset in that things will get better:)❤

Thank you for this amazing video. I find myself having the same mindset, really hope to overcome it!

Actually my gpa is 4 out of 5, and it is pretty much average compared with my high school which was always 4.6 ~ 4.9, I got really depressed cuz it even dropped to 3.7 and it seems that it is gonna drop for the next years, my problem is with physics and statistics and stuff that doesn't even have something to do with CS but we are obligated to study them, I always dreamed of applying to Microsoft since I was 12 but the more I grow up the more it seems far away but your story really encouraged me to dream big

I graduated in 2020 as a computer engineer. I was very bad at coding so I chose to work in the design field. it's been almost 2 years since I'm working as a graphic designer but now I'm switching my career to coding. This is so risky because I'll have to learn coding from scratch and who knows if I'll end up getting a good job as a full stack developer or not. I still don't know if I'm doing the right thing by switching to programming but I have no other option. Graphic design jobs are getting lesser day by day. And sometimes you need to learn something that will be difficult for you. You cannot always follow your passion but you can definitely make something your passion. I saw your video today and I really feel like it's a sign from God that I should start learning coding all over again. I'm ready to take the risk! Thank you for encouraging me Pooja!

so inspiring..thanks so much..i have been in the same boat as a software engineer

Thank you! Needed this.

i just started learning coding after deciding to switch my carrier to it from non it background , just to get a high paying job in future , i dont expect that much so big pakage right now , just want to become a begineer level programmer in any it company ... but its so cjhallenging to focus on learning ,sometimes its quite get boring ... i hope one day i will get a goog job ..

I went from watching web dev basics and then i saw you... I love you. You're so talented and beautiful.

Just what I needed to hear. Recently graduated from CS and still feel like I have no idea how to write the basic code. I plan on learning more through online classes since I skipped 80% of my classes in my undergrad. Btw I completed my school with 2.6 too. Not so proud lol.

So Im not really into tech, Im actually a psychology major.. but I still watched your video and it did inspire me. Im currently at a 2.7 gpa, I just completed my associates degree and im 24. I got a D in anthropology and political science because I was young and just didn't prioritize those classes. It feels like such a set back but you were right about just trying and continuing. This whole college thing is such a journey..

Same experience here, undergrad sucked, working as a Dev now might never get into grad school but am a hardworker, I will keep going. PS got my first rejection letter for grad school today. Thanks UCinn

This is super motivating, Pooja, thank you for making this video.

Very inspiring, thank you for your story. Also, what college degree did you leave to change to computer science. I too had a 2.69 degree and this def helped me change my fixed mindset.

I believe I received a 2.5 GPA when I failed discrete math and calculus 3 and received many Cs and Bs in my other classes. Since I didn't request a grade forgiveness, my GPA suffered for the remainder of my academic career. Currently, at a motor company as a SW.

I really needed to watch your video today. I don't even know you, but I'm your fan and you should feel really happy by helping somebody with very poor confidence. I've got lots of rejections as well.

I'm going through a similar situation myself. In my original 3rd year, I found myself lost. Wasted 2 years of my life at home then 1 year working at a construction company. But I decided to finish my Degree in Computer Science. So now I'm back in uni. It is supposed to be a comeback for me but i feel myself gradually slipping away, but this video of yours felt like you were speaking to me. I would like to say thank you. I know what I need to do, just that I wasnt following it. Time to change that.

Great video! I think the big tech interview culture definitely puts too much pressure on interviewees and approaching them with the "whatever happens, happens" mindset is a great way to keep your sanity, lol. But glad that you stuck it out and eventually landed at Microsoft!

Your stories made a walkthrough to my college life . I know it's tough . Any way u made it pooja🎉 congrats

Great breakdown of the trajectory of a software engineer. So many "same" moments from college to startup to interviews to fang hahah

What an awesome message and story!

You are a motivation to many people including myself!!! thanks for the video and yeah keep up the good work!!

2.6 and ended up with Microsoft! Well to be honest it can’t be a inspirational video, because if you are in India, with 2.6, Microsoft HRs won’t even bother to check the CV 😅

Hi Pooja, thanks a lot for this video, it was very inspiring for me, I realize that everything is possible, I'm currently working in tech support, I've been doing this for almost 12 years but I don't like it, I want a change in my career, I've love coding but I lost practice, anyway thanks for inspiring to pursuit my goals, you gained a new subscriber, greetings from Mexico, by the way if its possible, could you give me an advice about where to begin?

Love this, Pooja. Very inspiring. Thank you for sharing.

Thanks for sharing your experience. This is what I actually did when I was in high school(inspiring) . now I need someone to inspire me and I got you. Thanks dude

Thank you for sharing your experience! It takes a lot of courage to be open about failures

I'm about to have my M.S., in Data Analytics. While it's not an offer or even an interview, the fact the United States Department of Justice reached out to me to apply for a job is a confidence booster. It's only been a few days, so fingers crossed.

Thank you so much for this video!

As a 2nd year in college right now, this is insanely accurate to what I'm going through right now. Everyday I think about dropping out because I'm failing simple classes that everyone else is passing in my biological data science and computer science classes

This video motivated me ,as a good ranking school student but almost fail to graduate, this made me rethinking of my career

Hey Pooja...appreciate your honesty and bravery,i am sure this content will be a huge inspiration and guidance to all the lost souls..keep rocking..👍

These are the videos I'd easily like. Such inpring video. Let's you know you were never alone and you can do it

Thanks for making this vid. Feeling inspired.

Actually, I'm beginner in programming and I'm not that much interested but your video really inspired me. I love codes a little bit and want to ask you to tell me some book's names which help me to improve my programming because I want to after watching your video.

This story really inspired me. I desperately want to learn something in the field of Tech but I don't know where to start.

thank you for making this video. i’ve switched majors from accounting to comp sci, and still getting a low grades as a result of me being so demotivated because of the profs. thanks for this

You failing interviews multiple times kind of inspired me. This video gives a lot of hope. Thanks Pooja

Proud of you

Ah this Video came at a good time. Been feeling defeated grinding leet code and auto job rejections in this market especially with a few years experience.

Thank you so much! Recently ppl have been telling me to change my major, but seeing this motivated me to pursue this degree ❤

Wow, what a journey. I was watching the video while taking a break from learning Java while having Data Structures and Algorithms over my head. Currently in my second year and I haven't done anything in the first year hence why now I'm hustling to achieve something good. My dream is actually working in big tech, especially in a company like Microsoft and I am planning to really work hard for it. This video motivated me even more a, huge thank you

Very impressive...I am looking for a job right now and i am little struggling with leetCode problems. I daily solve 1 leetCode easy level problems but i struggle alot to solve that easy level problem. Will you please tell me how you were preparing for leetCode problems? 🥺

Pooja - awesome video - very honest and raw - well done 👏👏

I went to law school and the skipping class for the first time is a serious danger. Also the "destined to be stuck in mediocracy" hit me as that's where I am right now. Law degree working as a project manager in telecoms and trying to kickstart my journey in software engineering.

Thank you pooja, i almost dropped out of college because I felt stupid and was struggling with my mental health even though I had a 3.7 gpa in highschool but this has motivated me to finish school and give software development a try again .I also want to do my masters but i feel so demotivated with my grades but you have really motivated me

That was a very inspirational video sis, I will try my best in future, like you. Because we are made for this

Excellent video, Pooja. Mindset defines how far you will go in your career.

Great vid! Thanks Pooja❤

Such a great video, amazing storyline, awesome editing, etc why this video is not getting views as much as it should get what’s happening