Building Beyond Debugged with Medha Gupta
Season 5 kicks off with a special guest: Debugged founder Medha Gupta! Hear how she turned her Congressional App Challenge win into positions in tech and government, inspired others to break out of the current norms in software engineering, and used her passions for further opportunities.
Hello! Welcome back to Debugged, the Congressional App Challenge’s alumni-led podcast that connects the country’s youth with technology by debugging the intricate world of computer science.
In the first episode of Season 5, new hosts Suhaani Sodhi and Teddy Lampert talk with Medha Gupta, founder and former host of the Debugged podcast for the past 4 years. After majoring in computer science at New York University, Medha now works full-time in digital strategy at Adobe.
Medha’s journey with the Congressional App Challenge began when she won the challenge for Virginia District 10 in 2017 for her app about women’s safety when traveling. From there, new doors opened: Medha met computer scientists at House of Code, formed connections with fellow coders through tech competitions, and even interned for her district’s congresswoman! It was these experiences that inspired Medha to major in computer science.
As part of the Congressional App Challenge Alumni Advisory Board, Medha helped plan House of Code, organized National App Challenge Day, and founded our podcast, Debugged! Medha reflects that she started the podcast because she wanted to expose middle and high school students to career opportunities in tech beyond the standard path of software engineering. She wanted to challenge the expectations about the typical career of a software engineer at a large company by showcasing people in computer science who have broken out of that mold.
Beyond her Congressional App Challenge experience and her work in Debugged, Medha shares some of her other passions, including the music industry and the business trends behind it. She also advises listeners that, now more than ever, opportunities in tech are boundless.
Listen to this week’s episode to hear more about Medha’s story and some highlights for today’s tech news. Stay tuned for our next episode in 2 weeks!