Life is full of hard decisions and choosing a career is one of the hardest. At 17, most of young people make this decision, choosing if they want to go to business school, med school, learn about art, or performance, or computers, etc. But what if you choose wrong?
Bianca Caravtov graduated from the University of Warwick with a degree in Law and Sociology in 2019. In our interview with her, she stated “I wanted to go into a career where I could have my say and make an impact in the world. Initially, that career was law”. However, after studying the subject for a few years, she decided law wasn’t for her. She currently works as a Public Sector Specialist and Mixed Reality lead for Microsoft.
So what led her to change her career? When asked this question, Caravtov responded “Despite getting involved in Law societies and going through the internship process, it soon became apparent this wasn’t the path for me. This realisation led me to a year abroad in Hong Kong, where I discovered my true passion for tech. After coming back to the UK and doing my research, I saw that Microsoft was an organisation that would allow me to be myself, and have a voice, whilst also working actively in technology and making an impact”
However, her journey to this point wasn’t an easy one with her most challenging times being her teenage years. Caravtov emigrated to England from Romania at a young age. She spoke very little English and was at an age where she was still discovering the world and herself – “I was at that age where I was developing and didn’t really understand myself. I hadn’t considered the future – It [ emigrating to England] was terrifying.”
Caravtov went on to explained how she was cultural misrepresented and experienced misguided preconceived conceptions about her identity. People thought because she was Romanian she must be “ a gypsy” or “on benefits.”She explained “people don’t know what it means to be an immigrant.” She also talked to us about the shame she felt being an immigrant as well as her relationship with impostor syndrome which she still struggles with today – “it took me a long time to embrace my background and now I feel pride in my culture and where I come from, [however, in my work] I keep coming back to that immigrant mentality and that idea of impostor syndrome, it feels selfish to want more than my current position at times.”
I also spoke to Caravtov about her relationship with other’s doubts. “Many of my teachers didn’t believe in me” stated Caravtov “I was told that I wouldn’t succeed on multiple occasions” I didn’t get into my dream university (Cambridge), but Caravtov explained that this was a blessing in disguise as it led her to Warwick, which “changed my life” This led Caravtov to explain her reasoning behind giving her TEDx talk “There is a massive gap in the education system at the moment and unfortunately, many kids are falling through that gap, some of whom, with the right support system, could make a massive difference in the world. I wanted to give this talk today for those kids and tell them that their voice matters”
Caravtov ended our interview with one piece of advice that I will hold dear for the rest of my life. “Don’t disqualify yourself from the process before you have even applied” she said, “So go, ask questions, and be brave enough to make a difference in the world.”