Siew Goh says that volunteering for events at PTECH before she was even a student is what attracted her to the program. Her sister, Mae, was in the first cohort at PTECH and oftentimes the two would help out at various events.
“Being involved in a lot of the events before I was even there and hearing my sister talk about the program really attracted me to PTECH,” said Goh.
When the opportunity to attend PTECH presented itself, with some encouragement from her sister, she decided to apply to the program.
“I had also known a lot of other students and some staff through my sister and that helped me decide to apply,” said Goh.
Siew Goh who completed the PTECH program in 2021.
Having an affinity to technology, the Johnstown native chose to enroll in the Computer Science pathway. She graduated from the program in 2021 with her associates degree from SUNY FMCC in Computer Science and Cybersecurity.
Since completing PTECH, she has gone on to earn her bachelor’s degree in Cybersecurity and her master’s degree in Computer Science, both coming from the College of Saint Rose in Albany. Today, she is working toward earning her PhD in Computer Science at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy with the goal of going into programming or research. She hopes to someday create games of her own.
One of the highlights of her educational career at PTECH was when she and nine other HFM PTECH students were selected to take part in an internship with IBM. The internship was an opportunity for Goh and her classmates to gain critical professional and technical skills, and were part of IBM’s effort to create more equitable pathways for underserved people to acquire tech and professional skills by supporting a “skills over degrees” approach.
Goh said one of her favorite things about PTECH was the environment of the program as a whole.
“PTECH became a second home to a lot of us,” she said. “Not only were other students welcoming, but the staff were extremely welcoming. To this day, I still try to find time to go visit the teachers I had during my time there and try to keep in touch with them.”
She credits the program for helping shape some important values and skills that she has acquired, like group collaboration, time management, and professional skills to name a few.
“All of these skills I have used in the past few years to get through challenges related to college, employment, as a graduate assistant, and now a teaching assistant,” said Goh. “I know I would not be this successful at my age without learning these skills from PTECH.”
She also said that PTECH gave her the confidence to make a difference in the world.
“It showed me that I have the ability to be a leader, be confident in myself and my work, and can help make a difference, even if it’s a small one,” she stated.
