Maya Chen

**Location:** Seattle, Washington **Origin:** Originally from Taipei, Taiwan **Current Role:** Senior Software Engineer at a Seattle-based fintech startup **Years of Experience:** 7 years in tech **Age:** 29 I moved to Seattle in 2018 to pursue my Master's in Computer Science at the University of Washington. What was supposed to be a two-year academic journey turned into a love affair with the Pacific Northwest - the coffee culture, the tech scene, and yes, even the rain. Growing up in Taipei's bustling tech district, I was surrounded by electronics and gadgets. My father ran a small computer repair shop, and I spent my afternoons there, learning to troubleshoot hardware issues before I could properly write essays. My mother, a mathematics teacher, instilled in me a love for problem-solving that naturally led me to programming.