“Fear is the chief export of Compton. The fear of drugs. The fear of gang violence. The fear of being cut down in the streets. Fear of black people. Fear of black men.”
Anthony D. Mays grew up in Compton, California, an area dominated by crime and violence. He knew from a young age that he didn’t have many choices in life, and with the constant presence of police helicopters overhead, he was in a state of fear and anxiety. He was also abused at home, which lead to he and his two brothers being put into foster care when he was four years old.
Facebook
After bouncing around to different foster homes, some family friends who used to babysit Anthony petitioned the state so they could take all three boys in. From that day on, they became a family. “You don’t have to call us Mr. and Mrs. Crooms anymore,” they told Anthony. “You can call us mom and dad.”
Facebook
With the support of the Croomses, Anthony was finally free to focus his attention beyond the usual “outs” of Compton: sports, rap music, or drugs. But even then, he found trouble. He was a smart kid who enjoyed school, so naturally, he became a magnet for bullies.
Facebook
Anthony managed to shake off these criticisms because in his heart he knew he could do more if he really worked hard and applied himself. He learned how to program computers when he was eight, and it sparked a lifelong love of technology.
Though, in his darkest moments, he still suffered from “imposter syndrome;” he just never felt like he fit in anywhere.
Facebook
“What if I’m not really able to do this,” he asked himself. “What if I don’t get into college?” Eventually, he realized he was wasting a lot of time comparing himself to others.
“It took me a while to understand that I was just different, and not necessarily better or worse than any of my peers.”
Facebook
While at the University of California at Irvine, Anthony had his first meeting with a Google recruiter, but he still wasn’t confident enough to apply for a job. Inside, he still felt like he was less than.
“Y’all don’t want me,” Anthony told himself. “Y’all don’t want no black kid from Compton, former foster kid, working at Google.”
Facebook
After he graduated from college, Google came calling once again, and this time he applied. Everyone in his community and church were pulling for him to get the job, but he bombed the interview and didn’t get it. He was crushed and embarrassed by the setback.
I had to go back and tell those people, ‘No, I didn’t get in,’ and I felt like it wasn’t just that I had let myself down, but that I’d let down a whole community of people. And so when Google called again in 2012, I told them no, because I didn’t want to go through the embarrassment of failing again.
When his recruiters brought another offer to apply to Google the next year, Anthony knew he had to stop saying no. He launched himself into learning as much as he could before the interview, studying programmer problems for hours every day.
Facebook
Before his interview, he sent a letter to his recruiters to thank them for their help.
Little did Anthony know that his letter would find its way into the hands of Laszlo Bock, the Senior Vice President of People Operations at Google. When Anthony got a call after his interview, Laszlo himself got on the line to give him the good news.
Facebook
“We got your letter, and I’m just proud to be able to tell you that we’d like to extend the offer to you,” he told Anthony. “It was a moment I felt like I had achieved what I’d been put on earth to achieve,” Anthony recalls.
Once in the Google office, the young programmer still struggled with feeling out of place, largely because Google admitted that their diversity numbers were abysmal. But rather than just accepting this as fact, Anthony let it be his lightbulb moment, deciding to do everything he could to pay it forward and help other black kids get jobs in tech, too.
Facebook
“Whether you’re in Harlem, Chicago, in Africa, if you’re in India, wherever you are, you can do this too. If you’re willing to put in the work and spend the time. It’s good to have that fire and to keep moving forward. And it helps me to deal with the fact that I made it out, but a lot of my other friends didn’t.”
Facebook
Anthony still works as a software engineer for Google, and he’s also a writer and public speaker who actively tries to give back to the kids who are still trying to get by in places like Compton. He feels a strong responsibility, “I carry that burden with me, because I know if I don’t do this, who else will?”
Facebook
Anthony was recently awarded the INROADS Trendsetter Award for his work promoting diversity in tech, and we’re positive that his story doesn’t end there. He’s proof positive that with a strong work ethic and a healthy dose of faith, you can achieve just about anything.
Watch Anthony describe how he went from Compton to Google in the video below, and be sure to share.
Want to be happier in just 5 minutes a day? Sign up for Morning Smile and join over 455,000+ people who start each day with good news.