As collegiettes, we are pretty obsessed with our Instagram accounts, the photos we post, and the people we follow, but did you know that one of the minds behind our beloved app is a former Triton?
Yep! Brina Lee, who graduated UC San Diego with a degree in not only communication, but also computer science, paved the way for the rest of us engineering collegiettes by becoming the first female engineer on the Instagram team!
Lee had a path that is not only commendable, but inspiring. She had always had a passion for computer science and considered the idea of taking it on as a minor, but the classes were never able to fit into her schedule.
Instead, Lee graduated UC San Diego with a communication degree and decided how vital the computer science degree would be to her for her career goals. She made the decision to go back to school as a full time student at UC San Diego’s Jacobs School of Engineering to earn her master’s degree in computer science.
She studied under Professor Rick Ord who really shaped her and influenced her during her time there. Lee says that he taught her invaluable lessons of persistence that would transcend into her career journey.
Lee was able to complete her master’s program in just four quarters at UC San Diego and also held internships at both Google and Facebook. Facebook hired her in April of 2013, and she chose to work for Instagram, a company owned by Facebook.
We are so inspired by the ambition and perseverance demonstrated by Lee in her education and career paths, and that is why we have chosen to make her our celebrity this week! May her courage to be a strong female presence in a male-dominated industry inspire the rest of you as wel
*Photo and information courtesy UC San Diego News Center