We’re in Chicago: Kiana Hobbs
What is your current role? How would you describe the work that you do?
I am a Product Manager at Capital One. I help to define the strategy and details for technical features and collaborate with different teams to drive a feature to launch.
What was your Chicago Scholars experience like?
As a first-generation college student, Chicago Scholars brought clarity to a process and world that I had no insight into. The support provided by Chicago Scholars allowed me enter my senior year of high school confident and assured of a path forward.
How did Chicago Scholars support you to be the person you are today?
Beyond their work in demystifying the college process, Chicago Scholars hosted me for my first college internship and gave me the space to explore my passions. During my internship, I tried to code an interactive map for the program, Scholars Coast 2 Coast. It was a difficult feat given I had never coded in my life. But through this exploration, I learned that I found joy in the process of building and creating. A few weeks after completing the project, I decided to switch my major and study computer science.
What advice would you have given yourself just after being accepted into the program? What advice do you have for current Scholars?
With being a first-gen, low-income student, there will be a lot about the world and experiences that you may not know; that you just have not been exposed to yet. And that is okay. Just know that even without those experiences, you have accomplished amazing things and you are only at the foot of the greatness you will reach.
Is there a piece of professional wisdom you would like to give your fellow Alumni?
Work is not life, but work is a good chunk of your life. So, yes, make sure the work you do brings you some peace, but just make sure that you are able to have joy after you log off at the end of the day.
What does being from Chicago mean to you now?
Being from Chicago means being resilient, brave, and hopeful. It means knowing Chicago is not perfect, but believing it has the potential to be.
What do you wish people knew about Chicago Scholars, as well as the city of Chicago?
Chicago Scholars does not make exceptional students. They take students who are already exceptional and try to fill some of the resource gaps to help them continue being exceptional in higher education.
The city of Chicago is filled with many exceptional persons. But as we look across communities, those resource gaps grow and most gaps never get filled.
Both Chicago Scholars and the city of Chicago, share a tale of resource gaps and access to opportunities. The realm of possibilities is limited to what an individual thinks and see as being a reality, but we can help expand the view, like Chicago Scholars.
Technology has the power to empower, inspire, and drive positive social impact.
Unfortunately, the success of many individuals comes down to the idea of access, whether that is access to good education, opportunities, money, housing, etc. What compels me about tech is that it can help alleviate some of those access gaps, primarily through the easy accessibility to information. But beyond just accessing that tech, it is about who is creating it. It is crucial to make sure that the communities that are utilizing these technologies are involved in the creation of them. Far too often are minority groups not considered in the creation of technologies, leading to instances like the failures in facial recognition with dark skin tones or the established imagery of a default character.
I intend to combine my passion for creativity, love for tech, and empathy into a trailblazing career.