Align student Samuel Engida lands his first co-op as engineering analyst at Goldman Sachs
Author: Valeria Vazquez
Date: 03.03.21
Photo credit: Liz Linder
When Samuel Engida was a second-year civil engineering major at the Addis Ababa Institute of Technology in Ethiopia, he stumbled upon an Introduction to Programming course, and ever since, computer science has had his attention.
“I really could always relate to computers, they really made sense to me growing up,” Engida said. “The fact that Facebook was created in a dorm, that was a really intriguing thing. I was interested in the computer science stuff.”
Finding that computers and coding helped him solve his civil engineering problems, he realized computer science could solve other problems and wanted to become part of the solution. As Engida finished his civil engineering degree, he began to look for master’s programs in computer science, but few allowed students who didn’t already have an undergraduate focus in computer science.
When his friend sent him the link to the Align program’s website, everything seemed to fall into place. “It was a dream come true, a transition from my field to a computer science world,” Engida said.
In his first semester, Engida took CS 5001: Intensive Foundations of Computer Science with Dr. Keith Bagley, and he enjoyed the class so much, he began to wonder how Bagley taught it. Since he previously worked as a tutor back in Ethiopia, Engida already knew that he loved watching students reach that “eureka” moment. The thrill of seeing learning in action was part of his motivation for becoming a graduate teaching assistant—for Bagley’s CS 5001 course— in his second semester. Becoming a TA nudged him to meet new people and develop friendships that helped with being far from home.
“It was a very wonderful teaching experience in itself,” Engida said. “The eureka moments I had from students, the friendships that I built from those teaching assistantships, were really, really wonderful.”
As he adjusted to his new life at Northeastern, he also began to adjust and appreciate his new life in a foreign country. After traveling to the U.S. for his studies at Northeastern’s Boston campus, Engida noted how efficient things are thanks to technology—such as deliveries. He began to think about how to apply these logistics and efficiency methods to his home country: “I was really pushed into thinking how contributing such efficacy to focused principles can help a growing country.”
His experience has come with some challenges, however. As he has been adjusting to American culture, Engida has been struggling with imposter syndrome, which was only amplified during his co-op search.
“I didn’t have a background in computer science, and I wasn’t accustomed to the American culture,” Engida said. “There are master’s students that have the bachelor’s in computer science, so there’s that imposter syndrome that makes you feel like, ‘No, I’m not going to meet it.’” He was filled with self-doubt, asking himself, “Why on earth would Facebook or another big company want to see some students with no background?”
Engida did get an interview with Facebook, which he says was a “graceful failure.” But that interview was vital practice, preparing him for the many more interviews that went extremely well, including his interviews with Goldman Sachs and Lyft. This semester, Engida chose a co-op with Goldman Sachs as an engineering analyst, due to his increasing interest in finance and the opportunity it presented to grow in a fast, challenging environment.
This summer, he has already lined up an internship with Lyft.
When he finishes his MSCS degree, Engida plans to continue his education with another graduate program to extend his studies in computer science or explore other interests, such as economics or media. Thanks to his successes in the Align program, Engida can see through his imposter syndrome and said he believes he can pursue any path he wishes.
“Imposter syndrome is a lie to you, don’t listen to that,” Engida said. “Anybody could do whatever they really believe in and set out to do. Align has opened so many doors that I wouldn’t have been able to see without.”