When Life Closes a Lab Door: The Tech Journey That Found Tameenat

Listen up, because this story is about to change your whole perspective! When chemistry knocked Tameenat down, she didn't just get back up – she built an entire empire. This conversation is EVERYTHING: raw truths about career pivots, turning pandemic problems into profits, and creating tech that actually makes a difference. No filter, no fluff – just pure inspiration served straight up.

The episode that'll have you taking notes:

• The plot twist that turned her from almost-doctor to tech visionary (and why it was the best "failure" ever)
• How she built a whole fashion business from her bedroom during lockdown (because why waste a crisis?)
• The late-night lightbulb moment that sparked her game-changing campus safety app
• Real talk about building connections that actually matter (not just LinkedIn flex)
• The unfiltered internship hunt story (rejection emails and all)
• Finding strength in faith when everything else feels shaky
• Why divine timing > your timeline

✨ This isn't just another success story – it's your wake-up call to stop waiting and start creating. Ready to rewrite your own story sis? Listen Today.

Chapters

• 0:00 Tamina's Diverse Professional Pursuits
• 8:33 Navigating Career Pathways and Self-Discovery
• 15:56 Embracing Self-Reflection and Growth
• 20:02 Overcoming Challenges in Computer Science
• 27:48 Navigating Rejection and Building Confidence
• 36:29 Gratitude and Career Success
• 41:37 Creating Safe Campus Commuting App
• 54:13 Supporting Muslim Women in Careers

Transcript

Tameenat: 0:00

I just had like a little reflection period where I just was like thinking, like, do I want to continue with this? Like, for real, for real. It was just being myself, like this is after I don't finish crying in the library.

Hawa S.: 0:16

Salaam everyone, and welcome to Muslima's in Motion Professional Pursuits. I'm Hala, your host, and here we celebrate the achievements of Muslim women while exploring strategies to balance the life you dream of with the life you're living today. Join me as we dive deep into the journey of Tamina Naimudjidin, an innovating computer science student and AWS intern who's redefining innovation through her work on a campus safety app, advocating for inclusivity and inspiring the next generation of women in tech. Thank you so much, Tamina, for coming up here and just deciding to share your story and everything. I really appreciate that. How are you today?

Tameenat: 0:55

I'm good. How are you?

Hawa S.: 0:57

I'm good, alhamdulillah, all right. So before I get started, I always start off with this question, and this very elusive question is you're on a desertive island and you can only take three things. What are the three things you're bringing with you?

Tameenat: 1:13

I will bring fresh water. That's number one. Number two I will bring. Oh wait, let me start over Number one. Let me be for real. Number one is not no fresh water. I'm so sorry. This is a good question. You don't even have to apologize.

Hawa S.: 1:35

You got to think about it. See, that's like the goal, right? Don't even apologize. I get it Because, if you want to be honest, if somebody asked me this question, I probably wouldn't even know my answer personally. So I actually need to think of my own answer. So don't even worry about it. You don't have to apologize.

Tameenat: 1:49

I'll bring fresh water. Actually I know I said milk. That needs to be there, fresh water. What else? Like a knife or scissors, something like a sharp weapon? I'm not going to kill somebody, but no, you got something like a sharp weapon. I'm not gonna kill somebody, but no, you gotta defend yourself though. So yeah, exactly right. And then the third one would be like, maybe like a blanket, or like a big piece of clothing. You see, that's the first.

Hawa S.: 2:20

I've actually heard that like nobody has ever mentioned like blanket clothing anything, so I think that's actually really interesting.

Tameenat: 2:27

Because I'm thinking like where am I going to sleep, or like what am I going to have on Exactly?

Hawa S.: 2:32

Exactly. No, you're right, because one thing about me for me to be like cozyed up to me, to get adequate sleep, I need to have like, I need to be some kind of like, even if it's like a big jacket. You know something.

Tameenat: 2:45

Exactly.

Hawa S.: 2:46

So I get it, see, I like where your head's at. But yeah, so first we want to start with who are you, what do you do? And we'll get more into the why in a second.

Tameenat: 2:59

I'm Tamina. I'm like a chill person. I'm going like I'm in my senior year at Georgia State University. I'm like a chill person. I'm going like I'm in my senior year at Georgia State University. I'm a computer science student. I love fashion. I love dressing up like real bad.

Hawa S.: 3:14

We love that.

Tameenat: 3:15

I love dressing up, I love cooking, I love traveling as well too, and I just like I do a lot of stuff like apart from that too, like I don't know. I guess a lot of times I let my impulsive thoughts like get the best of me, like sometimes I just have a thought and I just go ahead like right then and there, like I used to be like a business owner, but like after I sold yeah.

Hawa S.: 3:38

Let's talk about that. No, that's not a lot of people you know just casually say oh yeah, I used to be a business owner. Oh, yeah. I remember, like during COVID.

Tameenat: 3:46

Yeah, no, it's not a set of flex. I remember during COVID I used to sell like women's clothing. Then I sold all that stuff out and I stopped, and then after that I started selling abayas and then, after I sold all of that out, then I stopped. I haven't. I haven't saw nothing. It was apart from that, like in a while she said I had to let the girls breathe.

Hawa S.: 4:08

You know, let y'all give y'all a little a break. I get it. No, I like that, though. That's actually so cool. So what made you go into that? I think during COVID I was just really bored.

Tameenat: 4:20

like I was really bored and I was broke, I didn't have no money and my parents was definitely not like before covid, they did not want me to get a job. Yet, like I remember I was in high school like all my other friends like, oh my god, yeah, I'm working at mcdonald's right now. And I was begging my parents like can I at least work at walmart, kind of do a babysitting job? They don't want me to do nothing. Oh, wow, wow. And then COVID came and we was just, you know, stuck in the house. So I just used that time Like I was reaching out to like wholesalers, I was reaching out to a lot of people, like I would be staying up to talk to my manufacturers in China or Japan, like it was a lot going on.

Hawa S.: 5:01

But yeah, I borrowed money from my mom too, but like I was able to pay it back. No, but I like that. No, I like that because sometimes and you know, as a child of an african parent, sometimes we, sometimes it's just like why are you doing this to me? But in this case, right, you were able to take that limit, quote-unquote limitation that they said, because, think about it, if you had got to work at mcdonald's and all those other places, you would have, you know, no offense.

Hawa S.: 5:28

I worked as xp's as my first job, so you know, I was there, I did the retail, whatever, but one thing I wish I would have done was have my own like, learn how to have my own business selling things like that, and I think that's really cool. Like, instead of just sitting back and being like you know what, I can't have no job, let me just, let me just sit down scroll on instagram you said oh no, I'm gonna be entrepreneur.

Hawa S.: 5:49

If I can't have a job, that's fine, I'm gonna make my own money. That's so cool. Mashallah, that's really cool. I like that, thank you, that's amazing. And I think, like it kind of goes to show, it kind of shows people's. Like you know, certain situations show people's personality, traits and things like that. I think that's a really positive thing, honestly.

Tameenat: 6:09

I mean I'm a little grateful that they didn't let me start working back then. Exactly yeah, I'm a little grateful. Exactly Like I needed money. Like I needed money.

Hawa S.: 6:18

Come on, and I'm going to be honest, you were probably I mean. Correct me if I'm wrong, but you was probably making more money doing that than working like an hourly $7 an hour job.

Tameenat: 6:30

I mean you're right, but you know, like business, it doesn't always like go smooth, especially when you first start.

Hawa S.: 6:35

That's true, this is true, yeah, but one thing that you have that like nobody can take away is the experience. So now, when you do it again, the next time, inshallah, you're gonna have all that wonderful experience, exactly so that's so cool.

Hawa S.: 6:49

I like that. That's amazing. So not only are you an engineer, but you're just such a multi-faceted person, you're an entrepreneur. Like you said, you like to cook, you like fashion, so I assume like the love of fashion is kind of what made you choose. Okay, let me just do clothes instead of like I don't know, like anything else yeah, I was just thinking like what?

Tameenat: 7:10

like I remember I was, I wrote like a whole list of like things I could potentially like. It was like a different thing, like chris did his lip gloss, his shoes, oh my gosh, I'm like bracelet, no, this is no, this is good, a bunch of pain. And I was just like just like, nah, I think I'll just sell clothes, I think that's like. And I was like, oh, I can have people model them and everything. I was just I don't know. But later on, after that, I think that, plus, being inside COVID and doing that thing, that really changed my fashion sense. I stopped just staying niche to just one type of fashion. I started styling other clothes different ways and stuff. I stopped just like staying niche to just one type of fashion, like started there like styling other clothes different ways and stuff. So, yeah, now here I am. I don't have I still don't have a specific niche either but it's like, whatever I wear, whatever I style, it is gonna look good you're right, it's gonna eat, see, and that's what it is.

Hawa S.: 8:01

I like that she's not restricted to one genre. Y'all, she, no matter what it is, no matter the occasion, is going to eat Love. That Exactly, mashallah, oh man. So with that, I guess I want to ask you next, like, since you're such a multifaceted person, like what made you hone in on, like CS, like what made you say, okay, this is the thing I want to do.

Tameenat: 8:30

Because you could have. It sounds to me you could have done anything. At this point. I really could. That's that is. My journey to CS is literally like so interesting because when I was in high school we had this thing in our school like you had, like you could be like different pathways. So I wanted to be like. Since a little kid, I was like I want to be a pediatrician, like that was my whole mindset since I was like in elementary school. But when I was in high school I didn't get into like the um, what is it called? It's called like health applied alliance, something like that. I didn't get into it. Instead, I got placed into the engineering pathway. Oh, wow, I was literally doing like, but I was already doing in middle school. But I guess the teacher there she like recommended me to like a teacher in my high school. So they put like the accelerated way. It's not accelerated, but I was like the upperclassmen classes. Oh, and I was doing engineering. Yeah, I'm surprised too. No, I'm not surprised.

Hawa S.: 9:15

I'm impressed. You're very humble. You're very humble, but you go like I'm gonna gas. Listen if you're on here.

Tameenat: 9:23

I'm going to gas you up. It wasn't because of Allah, girl. I don't know, I don't know.

Hawa S.: 9:29

Well, alhamdulillah, that's amazing.

Tameenat: 9:31

That's still amazing.

Hawa S.: 9:32

It don't matter, because even just getting there is one thing, but to maintain the vibe and just continue to do it like mashallah. That's really amazing.

Tameenat: 9:42

Yes, I was like in the engineering and it wasn't like computers, I don't know. Back in, like when I was in high school we didn't have like computer science as a path. It was literally like engineering and like energy systems. So I was doing engineering like we literally had to like I remember one of the projects we had to like build this hydraulic thing like from cardboard and syringes. Like we do a lot of crazy stuff in that class.

Tameenat: 10:06

And then after college I'm after high school, I'm sorry. I was like you know what I'm gonna do biology in college. And like when I was finishing high school, like all the like aunties was like oh my god, what are you gonna read in college? And then I was like I'm going to biology, pre-med, biology, pre-med, biology, pre-med. So then I got into like my first year at Georgia State and I was doing chemistry. I was in my chemistry classes and I just feel like that really was the turning wheel. I was already struggling so bad. I still passed the class. I for sure passed the class with like Bs. I was just like the amount of time I'm putting, like the time and effort and I was like I will be going to office hours and I was still not understanding the concept, like I was still going to exams. It was just bad. I don't even know how a lot helped me that I even had with a bee.

Hawa S.: 10:56

Listen.

Tameenat: 10:56

And I took chemistry one and chemistry two. It was just so crazy. I was just like oh no, I get it Listen.

Hawa S.: 11:03

I didn't even bother taking chemistry, bro, in fact. So, like you know, in Georgia State they kind of have, like your freshman year, they give you like a set of classes you have to take Exactly, and one of those classes was biology. It was like probably like week six or something like that. It was very early and for some reason I already had an 81 in the class and in my head I'm like, okay, here's the thing. You can either keep struggling and then just barely get out there with 81, or you can just get the heck out of there and just focus your energy on something else. And I dropped the class because I knew myself I'm not good when it comes to organic sciences. I mean, yes, I firmly believe that if you need to be good at something, you should be good at it. Yeah, however, you should also protect your peace and not put yourself like I could be using that energy doing an actual class that applies to my major that I can actually benefit from and that's what I did, like it was getting so bad.

Tameenat: 12:03

I remember I was like I was crying every day, like it was really so bad. I remember I was like I was crying every day, like it was just really bad. Like that was like those like the first days I was actually crying because I was like this is not like high school, what's going on exactly? And I just like I just had like a little reflection period where I just was like thinking like, do I want to continue with this? Like for real, for real, it was just being myself, like this is after I don't finish crying in the library. I was just like do I really want to continue with this? And I was like no.

Tameenat: 12:29

I remember exactly after, like my whole first year of college, like my whole freshman year, I was like I'm not going back to this. I cannot start the next semester.

Hawa S.: 12:40

Still a biology major, I was like no, I'm super glad that you even said that and came to that realization, cause I'm going to be honest, like a lot of first generation students, a lot of them are like stuck, or they feel like they're stuck because they're like oh well, what is everybody going to say? What is this auntie going to say? What are my parents going to say? You know all these expectations on me. I said I was going to do biology. Now I'm quote, unquote, quitting or whatever. But there's no point in doing something that you, you don't have a passion for. You're struggling Like. It's not even easy. So it's just. You know, you're just suffering just because what people just want onto you're going to see at this one wedding is going to be a side eye, or whatever.

Hawa S.: 13:17

Like it's not. I'm just glad that our generation got a down pat. We were just like you generation got a down pat. We're just like you. Know what it doesn't?

Tameenat: 13:26

it's not that deep I want to be happy in life and I can still be.

Hawa S.: 13:27

Chances are if you're happy what you're doing, you're going to be successful in what you're doing. That's the thing. People don't realize, that, though they're just like I do what I like.

Tameenat: 13:34

Yes, if you do what you want. If you do what you actually like, you're going to do really good. Uh-huh, and you never know. A lot can just make you successful that way.

Tameenat: 13:42

You never know exactly, instead of letting people's whatever what's what's and all this stuff it's tough yeah, and that's good and I'm just like seriously, you guys are pushing somebody to do this, but you guys are not going to meet the people in the class, helping them take the exams, helping them study exactly. You're not paying the tuition nothing exactly, I went home and told my parents and my parents didn't have a problem with it. But I was just. I didn't have a problem because, like one thing, my parents always say to me, they're just like whatever you want to do, make sure you do it good.

Hawa S.: 14:14

Wow.

Tameenat: 14:15

Regardless. Yeah, Because even I have a sister. She wanted to go do cosmetology. They didn't care.

Hawa S.: 14:31

It was just like. If you want to do that, that's not a problem, but make sure you do good in it.

Tameenat: 14:34

Wow, mashallah, see what happens when you support your kids your kids win hackathons. Like, yeah, you know, even after I did biology, I was so confused I was like, what do I want to do? Like, like, what do I want to do? I had no, like I was just thinking about like other things. I was like I don't know, like, do I really have an interest? I had no, like I was just thinking about like other things. I was just like I don't know, like, do I really have an interest in this? I was just like.

Tameenat: 14:48

It was just a really tough time. I felt like I was in a crisis. I did not know what I liked. I did not know what I wanted to do. I felt like I didn't have no passion and like my mom was just like girl, no, she started feeling sad because I was in a rough patch. I was like, oh, girl, no, it's not about you, it's not you. I'm just like. I just feel like everybody goes through that period where they go to self-realization and realize you have to start doing stuff for yourself and then, when that time comes, it's kind of hard to like figure out what you actually want exactly, yeah like now that I reflect about it, I wish, like when I was doing this, I wish I had prayed istikhar, because I had a friend.

Tameenat: 15:38

she's doing computer science too, but she was telling me like, oh, like, from the beginning, like before she even started college, that she pressed the card and that's how she knew she was going to do computer science. And she's been like she's graduating this December. Mashallah, I'm so happy. Mashallah, mashallah. But she's been stuck with it like since. From the beginning I'm just like, hmm, I should have did that, I should have did that.

Hawa S.: 16:07

Do you feel like if you did that?

Tameenat: 16:08

so do you feel like a little unsure about the path that you decided to take? Oh no, I don't feel unsure. I I feel like and of course it's good to praise the but I feel like the path that I took to get here.

Hawa S.: 16:15

I feel like if I didn't, then I wouldn't be the person I am right now, exactly because, see, and that's what I was gonna say right, no matter what, like a lot of and I'm really bad about this too, I mean a lot of. Help me get better at it. The thing is right. There's a lot of things that happen to us or we've done, and, you know, we're feeling a lot of weird feelings or as if like, oh, this should have been fast. I would have been here already if I had done this, if I would have had this thing already, if I had done this, if I would have had this thing already, if I had done xyz, if I had not done this, then I would have been xyz. And the thing is right.

Hawa S.: 16:51

I was listening to this khutbah and it was saying something like all of these things is just like shaitan kind of like trying to like shake us up. Because the truth is right. Everything, whether we know it or not, the decision we made not made. There's a reason why everything happens the way it was. Just Qadr of Allah, at the end of the day, where we are right now is where he wants us to be, whether we like it or not, right.

Hawa S.: 17:13

So it's not anything we could have done and, if anything, we should just be grateful for like and I'm speaking to myself first like grateful for the experiences and everything that kind of brought us here, because we can always look back and be like, oh well, I should have known I should have done. It's like if we do that, we're gonna be sitting there all day and also, yeah, it's like we're not superhuman, right, so exactly. But I think it's really cool that you have like that self-awareness and that, just like you know, able that ability to reflect. I think that's really cool, that you have like that self-awareness and that, just like you know, able that ability to reflect. I think that's really admirable. A lot of people they're like old and whatever, and they still don't have that you know. So I think that's really cool.

Tameenat: 17:54

Yeah, I feel like self-reflection really helps, because number one like it helps to understand, like where you need to help yourself at. Like it helps you understand, like oh, I'm doing something bad, let me actually stop. Number two it helps to understand If you have a close friend trying to advise you, or maybe a parent or an adult trying to advise you. It helps you also even though you might not like what they're saying, but deep down you can analyze and be like there's some truth to what she's saying. Actually. Let me put this into consideration, even though you don't like it, but you have to be real with yourself though Exactly, no, exactly, it's important.

Hawa S.: 18:33

Yeah, it's like. I think it's also like a good marker of you know your ego too, because if your ego is too inflated, you're obviously going to be like, well, I don't got to listen to you, you don't know about me or nothing, but somebody who's humble mashallah, somebody who is, who is always striving to improve themselves. Feedback whether they like to hear it or not, they're always going to take it in consideration. Right? So then, it's not about your personal like most time, it's not even about you. It's just about do I want to improve? Do I want to get better? Because? Because the truth is, if this is something I generally have to work on, why am I taking an offense to that? I just need to take it as it is and improve on it. That's it Exactly.

Tameenat: 19:13

That's really all it is. So that's really cool. Did I even answer the question? I feel like I just yapped so much. Did I even answer the?

Hawa S.: 19:20

question. Do not apologize for yapping or anything, because that is the point. Like that's why we're here, like I want to hear your story. This is all part of it. So don't ever feel like, oh, I'm talking too much, I'm doing too much. You know, this is part of it, so do not worry about that. You pretty much said who you are and why you're doing what you're doing.

Tameenat: 19:50

And you, kind of like, came to that self-reflection point, which was really cool. So, with that, what is the thing that keeps you motivated during the tough days? You know, are you saying, like, in relation?

Hawa S.: 19:54

to like life or like computer science. We can touch on both if you like. It's up to you. Um, you know, we can do the computer science one first and then life or whatever you know in computer science.

Tameenat: 20:02

I would just say, like the end results, like you know, in computer science, I would just say, like the end results, like you know, like in the movies, like when they foreshadow, like they do the foreshadow like in the beginning of the movie, so you technically already know what's going to happen. Mm-hmm, that's what I like to do sometimes. I like to like foreshadow, I like that, I like to like foreshadow, like let me just keep pushing through because, inshallah, the result is going to be good, inshallah, because computer science is not an easy, it is not an easy major, it's not an easy study, it's not easy at all. It's the fact that I thought I was going to be running from biology to do something less chill and I came to computer science. So, yeah, I just, I like foreshadowing, and even apart from that, it's like there's no reason for me to give up, knowing that I've done a lot, like I've sacrificed a lot or like I've been through a lot for it, like I don't see the point, like at that point you just have to keep going, like there's no turning back at all.

Tameenat: 20:59

Because I remember, when I first even started computer science, I took a leap of faith, like for real. I have prayed, I have prayed, prayed, prayed and I was just like I'll just try it out. If I don't like it this semester, then I'll just switch to something else. I remember taking my classes seriously, like I was studying, always asking the TA for questions, like I had the TA always looking at my code, like every lab class, like every lab class, until I stopped I was like okay, improvements, improvements. But then I got to like junior year it got hard, like super duper hard. And you know there's a lot of math classes. Oh my God. I remember like I was looking classes.

Hawa S.: 21:40

Oh my God, I remember like I was taking calculus two.

Tameenat: 21:42

Yes, I didn't even have a problem in like. I remember the most problematic class was my calculus two class. I ended up failing it the first time. I'm very proud to say that it's not easy, it's not easy.

Tameenat: 21:57

And oh my God, I remember it was this one mom in my class. She was a Nigerian mom too, god bless her heart. Oh, we was both taking it. And then later on I saw her like one time, like walking down the streets of like durgan state, and she was like hey, she was like how am I? I was like good. She was like oh, did you do good in the class? Like no, I felt she was like me too.

Tameenat: 22:18

I feel solidarity is like. I was just like I'll see you next semester. I was like yes, ma'am, and we both end up taking the same checklist to class again too. But obviously, yeah, inshallah, I mean alhamdulillah, we actually passed. Like thank you, alhamdulillah, yeah. But when I saw her, when she said that she also failed, I was like wow, I'm not saying like both, I'm, both of us can feel, but I just feel, feel like I'm going on that field. I really don't know what I'm doing. I'm not like I wasn't having imposter syndrome. I'm just like, oh my gosh, like what did I do wrong? Did I not study enough? Like was I playing? Like what's going on?

Hawa S.: 22:56

See, and I think the thing is the thing is right, a lot of times people just don't realize that, especially when the nature of this industry and this, like these courses, like people like to pretend oh, this stuff is easy, oh, if you're struggling you're lame, you're struggling You're stupid, blah, blah, blah. Nobody wants to. Everybody wants to gatekeep the answers, everyone wants to gatekeep the study material.

Tameenat: 23:18

Oh my God, the gatekeeping is supposed to be this, I'm serious, wants to gatekeep the study material.

Hawa S.: 23:21

It looks serious, uh-huh. And that's the thing. Like then people have you be thinking like, oh well, maybe I'm just, I'm just dumb, but you're not dumb. A lot of these people just they're lame. I'm so sorry.

Hawa S.: 23:34

Everyone just wants to bring that instance, like they just don't want to. Like everybody just wants to push every other person down and it's just weird, like why? So? I'm really grateful him to love for the people I met who were not like that, because it was astounding to me, not even just from my personal experience. But like other people tell me like yeah, there are people who literally don't even talk to you unless you're making a certain grade in a class. Like what is that?

Tameenat: 24:00

oh my gosh, I actually know people like that that's crazy to me.

Hawa S.: 24:03

Like are you not normal? Like do you not have other things in life to look forward to? You have to be just you have to just lucky so that's actually very absurd it's absurd. No, absurd is the perfect word actually it's really, really absurd.

Tameenat: 24:22

I've seen that happen too. But I'm just like alhamdulillah, I've met some. I've met some amazing people that have helped me in like so many aspects, and even Allah has helped me so many ways too. So at this point like apart from this classwork too I remember I was like in I wasn't like in a crisis, I was just like so worried. I'm like dang, I need an internship. Like what am I supposed to do? How am I supposed to go about it? Like what am I supposed to do about this? Like I had no, I did not know anything about internships. To like my junior year of college, like I didn't know nothing, I was just like oh wow, I just heard one of my friends. Like, oh my gosh, are you going to be doing an internship this semester? I was like I'm just saying. I was like what is that?

Hawa S.: 25:03

but she's like, who was gonna tell me that that was a thing?

Tameenat: 25:07

like do I need that? Like, what's like? What's the benefit, what's gonna happen? Well, god bless her. She literally explained everything for me and I'm just thinking I really like I need to like, hustle, like what am I doing?

Hawa S.: 25:21

need to get on my zoom.

Tameenat: 25:23

I swear, but like that time, like that time she told me it was a little. No, actually I think she told me my sophomore year, sorry. So by then it was a little too late, like I was already applying, but like it was like a little too late for me to like have gotten accepted to come work with anybody. So I was just like you know what, since I know what time recruiters start sending the links and stuff, I'm going to try again next year, next year.

Tameenat: 25:48

And then I got so involved with different clubs at school I don't know, I do not know what and I started making friends, because before I wasn't talking to nobody. Yeah, I realized that closed mouths do not get fed. Like you cannot go around living life. Like I understand, people can be quiet and shy, but you're not helping yourself Exactly.

Hawa S.: 26:10

And that's kind of something I had to learn too, because it's tough man it is, and people are scary and kind of mean, so it's very easy to just be like, oh well.

Tameenat: 26:20

Oh, tress, I've met some mean people, I've met some mean people.

Hawa S.: 26:24

So I get it so, but alhamdulillah, you're able to just pull yourself up and just say you know what I'm actually going to. I'm going to make it happen for myself.

Tameenat: 26:33

Yes, I started talking to so many people. I remember this one girl I was friends with since high school. She went to my college. She was like, oh yeah, join this club. I talked to other people I was like, yeah, join this club. And I was like I was in so many clubs. Wow, they're mostly tech clubs, but still they're like, oh, apply for this or do that. And then I remember applying for this one organization I don't know if you're familiar. It's called MLT. That sounds familiar, mlt. Yeah, they basically like they do like career prep for like students in college, but from them, like that's how I knew, like they helped me fix up my resume because my resume was trash. I'm not going to lie.

Hawa S.: 27:12

I appreciate your honesty.

Tameenat: 27:13

I had no job experience because that was my main concern. I was like, oh my God, like how am I supposed to even get? I was like how am I supposed to get an internship if I literally never worked anywhere? Like please make it make sense.

Hawa S.: 27:29

See, yeah, it's not easy man.

Tameenat: 27:31

I was like to my parents. They did not care. It was like no, it was like a lot's going to help you, a lot's going to find a way for you you don't.

Hawa S.: 27:42

A lot of people wait for you. I'm like, oh my god, well, they wasn't wrong, but wasn't great to hear in the moment it was not.

Tameenat: 27:47

I was. Oh my god. And that time I didn't have no projects for real. Oh, I was just. It was just blank. My resume was not looking that good at all, so sorry, that's painful.

Hawa S.: 27:59

I was like, oh my gosh. With that being said, I think this is a really important point, right. So I've had people ask me things like similar to this, where they really haven't had any formal job experience and their GitHub is looking a little dry. So, as somebody who was kind of in that position, right, what would you say you did that really helped you be able to, kind of like, get over that hump?

Tameenat: 28:24

I would say like joining, like being involved on campus, joining a lot of clubs Because most of the clubs that I joined they actually like really really helped me, like, even though I didn't have no job experience, I like later on I was able to like use my projects to like leverage that, because I remember like and then I'm part of this club. Now I'm a mint, I'm a mentor for this club, but this club is called rise. So these, this club, they actually they actually help like freshmen and sophomores because you know that you're not coming in to college like most of them don't have a job, that's number one. Some of them they do have jobs, but but it's like like retail, like maybe Kroger, mcdonald's, burger King, stuff like that, and you barely have projects because this is probably like you're, you're probably like in your like 1000 levels of class, you're not really doing anything for real Exactly.

Tameenat: 29:14

So in that club we make sure that they have a project to do, they have teams, they do projects and then at the end of the year, like next month, we're going to have like final presentations where they actually present, where each team presents their projects to us. At the same time we have like workshops, Like I remember, like a few weeks ago we had like this AI chat box workshop where like a master came and like she basically guided us on how to like make like a mini chat box workshop where like a master came and like she basically guided us on how to like make like a mini chat box. It was really cool. But stuff like that it might be small, but you can always add it to your resume. But even though you don't have a job experience, they know like, oh, you're able to do this and this, You're able to use such and such to do this and this and, most most especially, you're able to work in a team.

Hawa S.: 30:02

Those tech companies they love when you can work in a team See cause I was going to say that see, and to your point right, I think a lot of times people underestimate the power of doing these kinds of things Cause, okay, yeah, maybe it's not like a job or an internship, but all people are looking for, right, it's almost like are you the puzzle piece that fits into what they're trying to accomplish and how they can know that is, are you a good problem solver? Are you able to work with a team? Are you able to tell a story about the thing you've accomplished? About the thing you've accomplished, were you able to recognize the problem, figure out a solution and also collaborate, cross-collaborate with people, teams, whatever to get to that solution? You know, and as long as you're able to tell the story about that, you're good.

Hawa S.: 30:53

It's not about oh, I worked at five different companies, but if you worked at five different companies and you do nothing worth talking about, or even if you did, but if you worked at five different companies and you do nothing worth talking about, or even if you did, if you can't talk about it, you can't communicate that Exactly. What does it mean? You know?

Tameenat: 31:07

They want you to talk about your impact overall.

Hawa S.: 31:10

Exactly. Impact is the key word here.

Tameenat: 31:14

And then I remember I took on this like unpaid internship, oh yuck, and people was telling me, people was telling me not to fake it. Sorry, sorry.

Hawa S.: 31:27

Oh my God, I cannot with you. My bad, that was my bad. Like I said, I mean oh my gosh no, thank you.

Tameenat: 31:37

I'm just bringing as transparent as I can be, as you should, no, and I want you to Like.

Hawa S.: 31:43

I'm not sure where I am at today, but it was not all rosy Like, it was definitely not rosy, and it's important for people to know that because, like they see the LinkedIn, they see the oh man, like you know, mashallah, you're doing great, so but it's very easy People lose perspective. They're like like, oh, she's doing so great, not to say it was easy, but you know, you know what I mean, so I think it's important that you're sharing this perspective, because it's like it's not.

Tameenat: 32:10

It is not easy. I remember because I was even talking to one of my professors at school. She was like I don't think, and I'm like I was. But the thing is this the internship was like during the school year so. So I was like I was like okay, cool, and by then I had already started work. I was doing like I was like a work-study student at school, I literally just started to, and I was like a research assistant for one of the professors. Yes, I was doing that and I was doing like the internship work and I was not getting paid for it.

Tameenat: 32:37

Like when I first started I realized why they told me not to do it. Yeah, I had to be waking up like six o'clock in the morning, join the little stand-up meetings and then after that they would give us like our, like us, like our tasks to do for like the day or for like the week or whatever. It was mostly like FAQs that we had to do. But oh my gosh, I remember I had to wake up six o'clock in the morning and my mom was so happy. She was like finally something that got you up early in the morning. That's crazy. I swear like, oh my gosh, I hated it, but I stuck with it, and then I also added that to my resume.

Tameenat: 33:14

And then another thing I want to highlight is I don't want people to get discouraged by rejection. Oh my gosh. I don't want people to get discouraged by rejection. Oh my gosh. Rejection is a real thing. And I don't want people to feel discouraged because I remember when I was applying for internships for real, like for real, for real I was getting rejected like every day. I will apply to like 15 today, tomorrow, they will all come back rejected. I remember, like the first five, I was like dang God, mind you, I wasn't even applying to no big. Like I was not applying to like Google or Meta, I didn't even apply to Amazon yet. Like I was applying to like local, local, local place, like people that places you never even heard of man. I was getting rejected so bad. I remember, like after the first five times and I was like girl, if you get rejected five times, you better apply 100 more times and I was just applying like every time I got rejected.

Tameenat: 34:06

I would laugh I would actually laugh at the email and I would just apply like two more every day. I was making sure I was applying to at least five every single day. Wow, and I was still getting rejected, like I was getting mad rejected. And I knew at that time a lot of the guys in my classes I'm not saying all the guys are like this, but a lot of guys they love to boast about. Oh my gosh, I'm going to be interning with Meta this summer. I'm going to be with Morgan Stanley this summer I don't know if it's like the tech bro culture Also.

Hawa S.: 34:41

Side note, I think my phone died.

Hawa S.: 34:43

I was using it as a webcam, so you're seeing my face frozen, but it's like that tech bro culture I don't know what it is, and it's kind of weird and also contributes to the whole gatekeeping problem. But I want to touch on what you were saying about rejection. I think the fear of rejection stops so many people from doing so many amazing things, and I say that from experience, because I realized a lot of what stopped me from doing a lot of things I wanted to. I mean, obviously, alhamdulillah for everything. End of the day, though, I know that like I shouldn't have let the fear of the no's and the weird shame feeling which, the truth is, there's really no shame it just means the opportunity isn't for you. You know what I mean.

Hawa S.: 35:25

Yeah, I saw this video recently.

Hawa S.: 35:28

I hope I can find the video and like link it, but it was talking about like what would you do if you knew you were only like 27 no's to your the yes that you're looking for?

Hawa S.: 35:39

And the guy was like you would be so excited to keep getting those no's right, like you would just be looking for no's to the yes that you're looking for. And the guy was like you would be so excited to keep getting those no's right, like you would just be looking for no's, you'd be looking for people to reject you, right? So the truth is, we're all only like a certain number of no's away from the yes we truly need. So, instead of being afraid to hear no, no, no, we just need to keep pushing and keep listening and keep learning and just keep improving. Because the truth is, if you truly believe in this life, whatever is meant for you will never miss you, then it's okay. The no might hurt and it's okay to feel that hurt, acknowledge that hurt and sit with that hurt, but at the end of the day, right, you can't let it stop you from doing what you need to do.

Tameenat: 36:21

Yeah, you just had to move on. Move on to the next exactly, exactly mashallah.

Tameenat: 36:27

That's amazing I really like that. And then even like, and then like before I remember, before I got my amazon offer, this other company had already reached out to me. So this company, I think, was like a medical company, like a medical equipment company, but what's it called. I forgot their name, but they reached out to me and I was like, oh wow, like I was so grateful, like on the spot, I did like 11, alhamdulillah, on the spot right then. And there I saw the letter. I was like what I was like y'all want me to come work with y'all. Like what, like I was, I was so shocked, oh my gosh, I was like, so shocked. And then I remember, like after this, like immediately, I was like I need to go do some South Dakota right now. Like right now, I was like I need to, I need to, I need to. I remember like around Georgia State there's a lot of homeless people like a lot and like it's.

Tameenat: 37:18

I mean, it's a routine now for me, but like at that time it wasn't a routine yet. But like I just went and gave like all these homeless people, I just gave them food. I was like, well, I was so happy. I was like, oh, I need to thank God so he can do another one for me, right? But then I did that one. That's amazing, though, yes.

Tameenat: 37:36

And then I got like I got like this email from like a recruiter from Amazon told me to apply for this thing I don't know what. Like I don't mind you, I never applied, like directly from their site. The lady just emailed me this like application thing, like the document form. I don't know what I was thinking, but I just flipped it out. I just filled it out, sent it back to her, and then she got back to me like, oh, we can do an interview whatever. And I was like, oh dang, I was like I'm probably not going to make it, but I was like it is what it is, it's cool, I'll still do an interview. I don't know why I ruled it out for myself, but that's another thing.

Hawa S.: 38:14

Do not be ruling out stuff for yourself, exactly some people would have just been like oh, you know I'm not cut out for this, so whatever, forget it, it's fine.

Tameenat: 38:29

I was shocked. I was like dang, should I really go for this interview or not? But I was just like like what am I going to lose? Like for real.

Hawa S.: 38:36

Exactly what are you going to lose?

Tameenat: 38:40

And then I waited for them. I even had to reply them back. I was like I have another offer already, so I want to see which one is better or whatever. So then that's when they actually replied back about their decision and it was like I got it. I'm like what. I was so shocked. I was like I ain't like bro. I was super, duper shocked. I was so geeked, I could not contain myself. I did a humbleness, again on the spot too, like this time. I do not know where I was.

Hawa S.: 39:14

I still drew straight like on the floor Mashallah. That's amazing, though I was like what, and that's the thing too, like when you're grateful, allah says like when you're grateful, I will increase you. Like look at the amount of gratitude that you had, like it wasn't even Amazon and you still had like just so much gratitude. And then he gave you an even bigger opportunity. And, man, mashallah, seriously, like I just love hearing that, I love that no, because Allah always does his thing for real.

Tameenat: 39:48

like if you're grateful, he's's going to double, like double your success, double your greatness, double everything. Like it's more than double actually. But like I'm pretty sure you get my gist. No, absolutely Like, especially when good stuff happens, I have to be extra, extra grateful because I'm just like, why am I so special Like I'm not that special for him to have done that for me for real? He?

Hawa S.: 40:12

just chose to yeah, but I saw this thing. It's funny you say that because I saw this thing. That was like you know, people love us because we exist, but allah created us because he loves us. We exist because he loves us, so it's like you don't even have to do nothing you know, you just have to love him, just do things that make him happy and like, just be yourself, keep doing what you're doing and he will just it's a big thing.

Hawa S.: 40:40

So I really love that man. I love that so much like honestly, just hearing that it's just like motivating, I don't know. It's just giving me a different kind of energy. It just makes you feel like, no matter what I go out and do, I just need to have faith. I just need to. If something's good for me, it's not going to miss me. You know it's going to yes, exactly.

Tameenat: 40:59

Allah is going to always find his way back to you, even if you miss it, if it's really good for you.

Hawa S.: 41:04

Exactly man. I love that, so with that being said I really enjoyed that. So really quickly I want to talk about. Well, first of all, congratulations on. You know everything was really cool and I saw that. So actually, first of all tell me about your recent win your recent win.

Tameenat: 41:27

The recent win was my team. We won first place at this. I said Syphsphere, I'm sorry Computer Science Showcase at school, georgia State. So like right now, like I'm in this class called Capstone. It's literally like this is like the first semester that they're doing it, so it's Capstone part one and the next semester we're going to be doing Capstone part two. Okay, yeah. So like in this class, like our professor, he just gave us a list of like projects, because it's basically a project-based class, we don't do nothing except for like the project. He gave us a list of like, you know, like ideas, proposals for like projects and stuff, and you also have the like ability to like make up your own idea. So me and my team it's a group of five of us, mind you, I've had class with like all these women before, except for like one of them. So I'm like really real, like we're all familiar with each other so we're just going down the list.

Tameenat: 42:22

Yeah, it was going down the list and we wanted to be a little bit different, so we just chose um, what was it called? I mean, it wasn't a name, but it was. The idea was like to make commuting and making people on campus be safe. Mind you, I like I remember it was like a tie, like in our group, our team was decided on that one or like this elevator app thingy. So we voted and I had to stand with the community app, because number one as a woman, like going to school to stay is like really dangerous, especially at night. Like it gets really crazy.

Tameenat: 42:58

Yeah, and I don't take the car, I drop like I take the train, I take the train, exactly. So nothing bad, like nothing too crazy, has happened to me. I'm not going to lie, I'm really great, but it's like I've seen like other things that have happened to many other people, like they're always sending out incident reports and our emails. Like a girl I remember this one girl they said that she almost got raped, like in this parking garage next to the gym. Yeah, I heard about that actually. Yeah, exactly, people getting fondled, people getting stalked, like it's so, like so many crazy things, and it's just like that's enough to actually discourage somebody from actually going to school. No for sure, in all honesty.

Hawa S.: 43:41

Absolutely.

Tameenat: 43:42

And that really just touched my heart.

Hawa S.: 43:44

No, it's Exactly.

Tameenat: 43:46

It really just touched my heart. No, it's Exactly, it really just touched my heart. And then, because it's like I remember, when I first started at Georgia State I didn't have no, now I have my brother. He goes to Georgia State too, so we both walk.

Tameenat: 43:57

I remember for the first two years I was just going by myself. I was just going by myself and I used to. Back then I used to stay till 8. Back then I used to like stay till like 8 or 9 o'clock and then I would start going home and I only had like a pepper spray. And I remember sometimes like I would have friends like walk Because they didn't even feel safe with me walking by myself.

Tameenat: 44:18

I would have some friends like walk me to the station. Shout out to my good friend Imana, that girl like she always walks me to the train station. Mashallah, she takes the train too, but God bless her, she always walks me to the train station. And it's like a lot of crazy people on the train, a lot of crazy people around the school. So I really that's why I really, really advocated for us to do that project. So then we started doing a project. We haven't actually like implemented the project, but we just like have designed it so far. We're going to be implementing it and coding for it next semester in Capstone 2. I love that.

Tameenat: 44:52

But, like, as part of our like class grade, we had to like attend the showcase and like have a poster of saying like our project, what we like, why we're doing this, what we plan to do with this stuff, like that. I remember on that day that we had to present. I didn't even know it was a competition, I just thought we had to present the project and our teacher would see us and that would be my grade for coming and that's it. I didn't know they were going to be having first place or second place or third place, anything like that. And then I remember my team was nervous we were practicing how we're going to like pitch it and everything. Because they had actually like real life investors and recruiters from different companies come, Like they were actually the judges. Oh, wow, yeah. So we had to like. It was like, oh my gosh, like is this good enough?

Tameenat: 45:44

Because there were other people doing commuting, commuting apps and like websites and stuff. Because there were other people doing commuting apps and websites and stuff. So we have. I mean, ours is different because our app is like a way for you. It's kind of like Waze and Tinder combined, but for traveling safe on campus. In terms of Waze. There is real life incident reporting so you can see exactly like when something's happening, like maybe a car accident or something, because like a week before, like the presentation, there was like an oil leak from the Capitol and they had like blocked off so many roads and like nobody knew until like you were actually like there and you were stuck Exactly.

Hawa S.: 46:28

And which is kind of annoying.

Tameenat: 46:29

Exactly it. It's annoying, especially for like people that are walking and like people that are actually driving to school. So we have that and then we have like a buddy system where you can like add friends on there. So the people that you add as friends, they are able to see your location if you want them to, and you can like text them like oh, I'm going to be like going from the library to the train station or like the library back to the dorm. Is somebody from my friend's group? Are they also heading that way? Can you walk with me? And then at the same time we also have there's like a feed or like um, what's it called? It's like kind of like a group, like a group chat, but like for like everybody that's at school. So if you want it, not everybody, that's like a student or a staff. So let's just say, like you don't want anybody to know your location and you're not really fond of having friends, you just want somebody to at least walk with you because you're scared. You can just text in the chat like oh hi, is anybody going to be? Um here until 7 pm. I have class that ends at that time. I need to be walking to the train station by then, get somebody walk me and then somebody's going to be free. Well, somebody's going to answer like oh yeah, I'm up to that, I can do that for you, stuff like that.

Tameenat: 47:42

In addition, each student has the like ability to make reviews of each other, so it's kind of like like Airbnb, where you can review the host's place of living and then the host also reviews you. But you can also do that. So, just in case you walk with somebody that you didn't leave, even though they're a student, they're still giving you weird vibes, right, they say something crazy to you and you're just like I don't think what you said was appropriate. So you can just also like leave them a review so other people can also see that. But yeah, the app was.

Tameenat: 48:17

The app was just really was. It was really in concern for like the current problems that are happening and even like in our group, another one of my group mates her name is niomi, she also takes the train like she can also attest to like how crazy it gets like trying to get. I mean, only, this app is not only for people that ride the train, but no, but like it's important exactly just for like the overall, walking around campus like it gets really crazy and even though, like the school, the school they they'll be like, oh, you can call the police to escort you, by the time you call the police they don't even get there on time. That's number one. Exactly, they don't get there on time. Number two they don't even always even answer the phone. I know it's crazy, but they don't even always answer their phone.

Hawa S.: 49:01

Girl, I remember you could not. I'm sorry you could not count on them.

Tameenat: 49:07

They sent incident reports to our emails now, but they will send it maybe five hours later after the incident. See, that's not. Even if a crazy guy was stalking somebody, you could possibly just walk right past them. You wouldn't know them because the incident report hasn't even came yet.

Hawa S.: 49:27

See, that's not what we need, like it's not okay it's not okay.

Tameenat: 49:32

So that's why we just, that's why we just decided on the like real life incident reporting system and just to like make it safe for people to be walking, because it's not safe at all honestly it's not.

Hawa S.: 49:44

And honestly, may I reward you because that whole thing it's important. I remember when I was going to school there and you're absolutely right as somebody who took the bus, who drove, who did all of that. That's why I really enjoyed seeing y'all's and hearing about y'all's project, because I think it's necessary, for sure, like absolutely it is very necessary. And so I do want to ask you because, honestly, I really enjoyed our conversation and I feel like we have so much. There's just so much more and, inshallah, if you ever have time, I would love to do like a maybe like a part two, because I really enjoyed everything you said and I feel like we're just next to catching this up.

Hawa S.: 50:24

first, so with that I do want to close, because I actually have a live co-working online thing tonight and at 615. No problem, but I do want to close out by asking you what your favorite eye of the Quran is and how do you feel like it applies to, like what you do, whether it's for school, with work, with anything?

Tameenat: 50:48

I can have a minute to think about this.

Hawa S.: 50:50

Of course.

Tameenat: 50:52

That's a very good question. Oh, my God, I love all your questions.

Hawa S.: 50:55

Like for real Thank you. Thank you Like. These are really good. That actually means a lot, because sometimes I'm like I hope these questions are good enough.

Tameenat: 51:04

Oh no, they're really good, because this one has me like in deep thought oh no, they're really good, because this one has me like in deep thought oh mashallah, Okay Whoopi, I think I found my favorite ayah. Do you want me to? I can read it.

Hawa S.: 51:15

Mm-hmm.

Tameenat: 51:22

Yeah, oh, do you want me to say the meaning too?

Hawa S.: 51:25

Yeah, and just explain why.

Tameenat: 51:31

The meaning is basically Allahah's gonna command, like he's gonna command whatever he wants to command, based off of his intentions, and when he says be, whatever he says be is gonna, is gonna be. Yeah, so I chose this ayah because allah knows everything. Right, we don't know everything, we're just living the life, trying to figure out what happened next, right, like in practically everything, like in school, like in life, I guess, like in family, like in anything, right? So I just felt like I could relate to this because Allah has showed, like in a lot of ways, how he has showed how powerful he is. That's number one.

Tameenat: 52:12

And then he has shown, like he has shown me, I mean, obviously, like I'm not that old, so I'm not going to say I have like that much experience, as, like other people, like you know, that are probably live, you know different lives, but still I feel like he said a lot of stuff is gonna be and it has been like that. I just don't know yet because, like I'm a human like what, what do I know? But as long as, like you keep on having faith in him, you keep on being grateful, you keep on being I'm not and number one. I know it's hard to be a good Muslim. It's not easy. I mean, allah has made it easy, but like as a human, it's not no.

Hawa S.: 52:54

I hear what you mean, though Like follow everything. I hear what you mean Exactly. Humans are prone to error.

Tameenat: 53:00

Exactly. I feel like if we just continue being grateful and like trying our best to be a good Muslim because nobody's like a perfect Muslim, that's true you can just only try to like be a good one. I feel, as long as we try and be like that, then, inshallah, your Qadarah should be I mean, not everybody's Qadarah is good, but your Qadarah it should be good when, like Allah says, this is like something that's good is going to happen.

Hawa S.: 53:30

You just have to trust the process absolutely. I really like that. Actually I like that choice. I like what you said trusting the process. It's one of the hardest things like as humans to do.

Hawa S.: 53:38

We're not very good at it, but like it always, like we just have to remember, like Allah has never let us down. You know what I mean. Why would he let us down this time? So, so honestly, thank you so much for your time. Honestly, I super appreciate it and I hope that, inshallah, soon enough, we can do this again, because I truly enjoyed this conversation. I enjoyed your sense of humor. You're so, you know, down to earth and everything. Thank you so much. It was honestly an honor getting to talk to you and I hope to talk to you soon. I do want to ask where can we find and support you?

Tameenat: 54:17

You can find me on Instagram at M-E-E-N-A-T dot.

Hawa S.: 54:23

T Perfect Straight into the point Love that. Okay, assalamualaikum. Thank you so much. Thank you so much for your time.

Tameenat: 54:29

Thank you so much for having me. I really enjoyed it. Thank you, I love your podcast and I love the questions that you ask me and I really enjoyed talking to you like for real.

Hawa S.: 54:39

Oh, thank you so much.

Tameenat: 54:40

I thought I was talking to an old friend. Oh mashallah.

Hawa S.: 54:44

Man, you, you're gonna make me cry like we're friends now, so we are, don't worry. I was literally about to say, like, if you ever want to grab coffee, grab lunch I know a little let me know, let me know. And then, well, inshallah, I'm gonna have another co-working, in-person co-working session. I started this thing called like collective. It's just like a bunch of us muslim girlies who are working. Or you're a software engineer, whether you're doing, whether you're doing STEM, whether you're doing fashion I know some girls are trying to launch their clothing lines we're just meeting up co-working in the same space, talking, collaborating. So, inshallah, we're going to do the next one next month, and then the digital one is tonight, which I'm about to after I pray my group, I'm going to log on to that, so I'll keep you posted on that.

Hawa S.: 55:29

Likely, when I get settled in the live too, actually, I'll send you all this stuff. But, yeah, feel free to join. You don't have to like, show your face or anything, just like if you want to be in an environment or join the community. I have a community on a platform called Geneva. I'm probably going to move it because Geneva apparently is not available in the UK, so we're probably gonna move to discord, but anyways, thank you so much again. I wish we could have talked more, but I done. Booked everything way too close to each other, so it's okay, girl, it's okay okay thank you bye.