Kathrin: Take a deep breath, keep at it - you'll be fine!

Four children aged between two and eight at home and then the idea of learning to code at 42 Heilbronn? Quasi on the side? Obviously doable: Kathrin, who started in one of the first cohorts of 42 and now codes for Schwarz IT, talks about her motives, her motivation and what she wants to tell other women and mothers.

Spring 2022: Heilbronn is transforming into the new tech and AI stronghold. More and more renowned universities such as the Technical University of Munich and start-ups are moving to the former industrial city. Ideas for the Artificial Intelligence Innovation Park (IPAI) are emerging. And the recently opened 42 Heilbronn puts its first piscines out to tender. During this time, Kathrin is on parental leave with her two youngest children: “There was an incredible spirit of optimism in Heilbronn. It was clear to me: I didn't just want to watch, I wanted to be part of it!” As a qualified business administrator, she previously worked in a business department of the Schwarz Group. Parental leave provides the necessary scope for a career change. Without further ado, Kathrin signs up for the logic games - and is invited to the Piscine.

Piscine means 60 hours of coding a week, plus seemingly unsolvable problems and lots of frustration. How do you do that as a mother of four? With the active support of grandma, partner and sister, of course, says Kathrin. But almost more importantly: with a large portion of enthusiasm. “I was immediately gripped by the atmosphere at the Piscine. There was this intense exchange with the others, the shared passion for the cause and the will to get stuck into things.” This spirit is inspiring. Although Kathrin had not had much contact with coding before, she passed the Piscine and started her studies at 42-Heilbronn.

Part-time work that demands

From then on, Kathrin is a part-time coder and part-time mom. Coding from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., three days a week. The rest of the week: running the household, helping with homework, comforting children with toothache, pulling all-nighters if necessary. “That sometimes required iron discipline. When my fellow students were playing a round of table tennis, I would continue to brood over the problem.” What helps: the flow experience you get when coding. And the support at 42-Heilbronn.

“I have experienced so much understanding in the community, which has also carried me through particularly stressful days,” says Kathrin. Thanks to the flexible working hours, she completed her studies in two years, just a few weeks over the standard period of study. And joint projects with other students can also be managed. In her final thesis, Kathrin and five other students are developing the game Pong as a full-stack multiplayer web application. “We were a very mixed group in terms of age and background, everyone contributed something different.” Kathrin's contribution? An almost unshakeable perseverance that is infectious. Because anyone who has children knows that when in doubt, only one thing helps - take a deep breath, keep at it, at some point the knot will come undone. There are no other options, Kathrin laughs: “I can't just give the children back if it gets too tedious.” It seems to be similar with the coding tasks.

Courage for something new

Today, Kathrin is back at her old employer. Now, however, as a Product Owner in the Computer Vision and Artificial Intelligence (AI) department. Together with her team, she is developing AI-supported applications for supermarket branches, for example, which will make check-out easier in the future. Kathrin: “Some people were irritated when I started here: I don't fit the image of the classic female coder.” Women are still hugely underrepresented in the field of AI in particular. It is not uncommon for there to be a fear of contact - too technical, too dry, too little exchange. Thanks to her time at 42, however, Kathrin knows that the opposite is often the case. Kathrin would therefore like to encourage women in particular to take the plunge and try out coding for themselves: “That's another thing the 42 spirit really taught me: just go for it - what's going to happen?”