{"627338":{"#nid":"627338","#data":{"type":"news","title":"Yanjin Long Juggles Diapers and Deadlines as a First-Time Mother and OMSCS Student","body":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EBecoming a parent is an exciting new chapter in a person\u0026rsquo;s life that brings an overwhelming amount of change. Most people try to shed responsibility and adjust their schedules for their new bundle of joy.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EFor \u003Cstrong\u003EYanjin Long \u003C\/strong\u003Ethough, pregnancy and maternity leave was the perfect time to begin her journey as an \u003Ca href=\u0022http:\/\/www.omscs.gatech.edu\/home\u0022\u003EOnline Masters in Computer Science (OMSCS)\u003C\/a\u003E student at Georgia Tech.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ENow in her second year in the program and mother to one-year-old daughter Skyla, Long can\u0026rsquo;t imagine doing it any differently.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003ETwo Pink Lines and An Acceptance Letter\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAfter working at Ernst and Young in its advisory section for a couple of years, Long was recruited to work for one of her clients, LendingClub, as a risk analyst. Long soon found a great mentor in \u003Cstrong\u003ETy Sbano\u003C\/strong\u003E, the former head of LendingClub\u0026rsquo;s security and engineering department. She expressed interest in learning more about his team\u0026rsquo;s work, and transitioned to a security engineering role.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EThis transition exposed Long to coding, Python, and software-related projects, something she did not have much experience with as a business major. While she recognized the need for improving her technical skills, she also realized her desire to earn a master\u0026rsquo;s degree.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I had always wanted to earn an advanced degree, partly to appease my parents expectations, but, this new role kicked that desire into high gear,\u0026rdquo; said Long.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHer husband, a former Georgia Tech math Ph.D. student, recommended Long look at OMSCS after seeing \u003Ca href=\u0022https:\/\/public.tableau.com\/views\/ZviGalil-theOMSCSLegacyatGeorgiaTech\/Dashboard1?:embed=y\u0026amp;:display_count=yes\u0026amp;:origin=viz_share_link:showVizHome=no\u0022\u003Ea lot of positive news coverage about the program\u003C\/a\u003E. The low cost of the program also didn\u0026rsquo;t hurt, especially as the couple knew that they wanted to expand their family soon.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs it so happened, school and a baby were about to happen simultaneously for Yanjin.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EHaving children is life-altering and might deter most people from adding more to their plate. But, Long says she actually felt encouraged about diving into an advanced degree program after a conversation she had with one of the people who wrote a recommendation letter for her OMSCS application.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;He mentioned that his wife had earned her master\u0026rsquo;s degree while she was pregnant, and that while it was a tough time for her, she realized that if she didn\u0026rsquo;t do it then, she might never have. That really spurred me on and gave me a lot of encouragement to keep pursuing this,\u0026rdquo; said Long.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ESo, not long after she found out that she was expecting, she soon heard another round of good news. Long was accepted to the OMSCS program for Fall 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Ch4\u003EA Legacy in the Making\u003C\/h4\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELong started the program while seven months pregnant and gave birth to her daughter in October 2018.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;I was reading papers for class while I was in the hospital waiting to give birth,\u0026rdquo; said Long.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EAs she adjusted to life with a newborn, Long says she found unexpected moments to study.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Breastfeeding actually ended up being a great time to study. You\u0026rsquo;re up late at night, and it gives you another kind of purpose, which helps you not be angry or frustrated at the baby. It\u0026rsquo;s actually great because you get to spend time with your baby while also spending time improving yourself.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ELong was especially thrilled to find out she was having a girl, as she hopes that her journey will be a source of inspiration for her daughter throughout her life.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;After I found out I was having a girl, I just really wanted her to know that women can thrive in tech. I felt like the greatest legacy I could give to her would be the story of how when her mom was pregnant with her, she was studying computer science. I wanted to show her that I could do it, and if she wants to one day go into a field where women are less prevalent or people don\u0026rsquo;t expect you to be there, that she can do it too.\u0026rdquo;\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003EShe also echoes the sentiment of her colleague\u0026rsquo;s wife about starting her degree at what some might say is an odd time. In fact, she credits OMSCS will helping her maintain her sense of self and value as a person outside of motherhood.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003E\u0026ldquo;Being Skyla\u0026rsquo;s mom is my greatest joy and honor, but I would be lying if I said the days are not long. OMSCS has helped me know that my value isn\u0026rsquo;t only in changing diapers, and it\u0026rsquo;s actually really helping me develop my sense of motherhood. I think I didn\u0026rsquo;t struggle with post-baby blues because earning my degree has helped keep me grounded personally and professionally,\u0026rdquo; said Long.\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","summary":null,"format":"limited_html"}],"field_subtitle":"","field_summary":"","field_summary_sentence":[{"value":"Starting graduate school while becoming a first-time parent and working full-time is no easy task, but Yanjin Long can\u0027t imagine doing it any other way."}],"uid":"34773","created_gmt":"2019-10-08 16:48:48","changed_gmt":"2019-10-08 21:24:15","author":"ablinder6","boilerplate_text":"","field_publication":"","field_article_url":"","dateline":{"date":"2019-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","iso_date":"2019-10-08T00:00:00-04:00","tz":"America\/New_York"},"extras":[],"hg_media":{"627346":{"id":"627346","type":"image","title":"Yanjin Long and her daughter Skyla recently attended the ACM Richard Tapia Celebration of Diversity in Computing conference in San Diego, Calif.","body":null,"created":"1570554581","gmt_created":"2019-10-08 17:09:41","changed":"1570554581","gmt_changed":"2019-10-08 17:09:41","alt":"Yanjin and Skyla","file":{"fid":"238853","name":"IMG_4567-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_4567-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_4567-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1152150,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_4567-2.jpg?itok=J-Eaja3G"}},"627347":{"id":"627347","type":"image","title":"Long is soaking in the moments with her one-year-old daughter Skyla while also enjoying her time as an OMSCS student.","body":null,"created":"1570554691","gmt_created":"2019-10-08 17:11:31","changed":"1570554848","gmt_changed":"2019-10-08 17:14:08","alt":"","file":{"fid":"238854","name":"IMG_4550-2.jpg","image_path":"\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_4550-2.jpg","image_full_path":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/\/sites\/default\/files\/images\/IMG_4550-2.jpg","mime":"image\/jpeg","size":1216803,"path_740":"http:\/\/hg.gatech.edu\/sites\/default\/files\/styles\/740xx_scale\/public\/images\/IMG_4550-2.jpg?itok=wjWCyY78"}}},"media_ids":["627346","627347"],"groups":[{"id":"47223","name":"College of Computing"},{"id":"431631","name":"OMS"}],"categories":[],"keywords":[{"id":"121521","name":"OMSCS"},{"id":"4407","name":"Graduate Student"},{"id":"366","name":"Graduate"},{"id":"167058","name":"Student"},{"id":"4150","name":"master\u0027s"},{"id":"127441","name":"master\u0027s degree"},{"id":"182607","name":"online degree"}],"core_research_areas":[{"id":"39501","name":"People and Technology"}],"news_room_topics":[],"event_categories":[],"invited_audience":[],"affiliations":[],"classification":[],"areas_of_expertise":[],"news_and_recent_appearances":[],"phone":[],"contact":[{"value":"\u003Cp\u003EAllie McFadden\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003ECommunications Officer\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n\r\n\u003Cp\u003Eallie.mcfadden@cc.gatech.edu\u003C\/p\u003E\r\n","format":"limited_html"}],"email":["allie.mcfadden@cc.gatech.edu"],"slides":[],"orientation":[],"userdata":""}}}