USC Marshall, Girls Who Code Team Up

USC Marshall School of Business

Bailey’s classmate, Juliana Avalos, a 17-year-old from the San Fernando Valley, says some of the languages were difficult, but she always had help whenever she began to feel discouraged. “I remember a guest speaker told us that you never really stop learning in computer science,” Avalos says. “And I can honestly say that I wholeheartedly agree.”

And the program taught her a lot more than just coding. “I learned so much about the importance of working as a team,” Avalos says. “Working with these amazingly smart girls has allowed me to put more trust into my teammates. I’ve learned that having a diverse team with different strengths and weaknesses not only makes working together more interesting, it also improves the working process.”

WHY BUSINESS SCHOOL IS THE RIGHT PLACE

Avalos says being on the USC campus this summer has persuaded her to apply to the school for college, something she hadn’t considered before. Bailey, meanwhile, adds that she thinks it’s smart to combine technology and business. “They’re all essential elements for innovation,” she says.

Chrystal says the program was exactly what Marshall hoped it would be, and she expects Dean James Ellis to share their experience with other business school deans. “He’s going to talk about why he thinks business school is the right place to do this,” she says. “Look at all the women who are CEOs or CFOs at major companies. They were all exposed to coding.”

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