**Q1**
My first experience with programming was in graduate school. At that time, I used different structural determination software in Linux to solve the crystal structures of proteins. I totally fall in love with it at the very beginning! It is super flexible and you can work everywhere with a laptop, so I do not need to stay in lab until midnight to finish my experiments. It is so fast and you can immediately know our results, while it may take two days or weeks, even longer to get results from experiments. Most importantly, I like to wear pretty clothes and I simply do not want them to be covered by a lab coat. That’s why I have been working as a postdoc in Bioinformatics labs after graduation.
During the past 4 years in Bioinformatics labs, I really learned a lot from reading books (such as, Beginning Perl for Bioinformatics) and online tutorials, watching videos, and taking online courses (such as, udemy). Right now, I am totally comfortable with Linux system. Most importantly, my thinking habits are changed from excel to try Perl for text manipulation and R for data analysis.

**Q2**
I am still in the beginning of programming, and so sure that this program will definitely speed up my career. In 5 years, I will do my best to be a senior programmer with proficiency in coding, enthusiasm to learn new things while taking some management positions in a company where I can have lots of opportunities to develop both my professional and personal skills. And I would love to start it from Ada!

**Q3**
I have a strong background in biology. Currently, precision medicine is an emerging approach for disease treatment and prevention that takes into account individual variability in environment, lifestyle and genes for each person, which really requires Big data storage and powerful computing support. Meanwhile, with the development of sequencing technology and reduction of cost, more and more people could afford and do genome sequencing for precise medicine. As a leader in boot camp for women, Ada can teach some skills about genomics and sequencing data analysis. If so, I would love to share my experiences about it.

Besides, I would also share my experience of Ada with the others from my facebook, twitter, linkedin, webchat and other social media. I also would like volunteer in Ada to help more women benefit from this fantastic program.


**Q4**
When I joined my previous lab in 2013, Bioinformatics was totally new and challenging to me. I picked it up in a short time and I was so excited and eager to learn different tools and programs. After about one year, I can handle my job confidently and I was very satisfied with my skills. I thought I was good, and my mistake is that for about one year, I did not learn anything.
Then I realized that I can only use software but have no programming skills. Most importantly, never say never and keep on moving forwards. If I encountered the same situation again, I would keep on learning.
Right now, I am in my second postdoc lab and doing good at my job. Meanwhile, I am also learning programming in my spare time.