Yoleidys | Colombia

You only need to spend 5 minutes talking to 28-year-old Venezuelan Yoleidys to realize how much she values education as a way to advance one’s career and life goals. 

Yoleidys graduated from Generation Colombia‘s second cohort of the Unity Game Developer program in June 2023. When asked to describe her Generation experience she said:

“As an immigrant without a university diploma, having the chance to learn hard and soft skills and obtain a certificate from a trustworthy institution was a turning point in my career.” 

Only two months after graduating from the program, she got a job in a marketing company that used video games for advertising. She then changed jobs and got a position at Teriun Games, a Colombian company that develops video games. Since January 2024, she has been a 3D artist and is striving to become a visual artist, her career goal. However, her journey towards working in the field that makes her happy and enables her to be financially secure was far from easy.

Humble beginnings

Yoleidys, the daughter of a carpenter and a dressmaker, was working towards a degree in mechanical engineering but had to leave her studies in 2017 and start looking for a job. “I still had two years left until I could graduate, but even though the university was public, materials were expensive, and I needed to earn money because of the economic situation of the country and that of my family,” she said. As a self-taught musician, she started offering singing lessons for children to make ends meet.

That was when she heard that some of her friends had migrated to Colombia in search of a better life and were able to send money back home. She became intrigued. At 22 years old, she decided to spend one month in Colombia to give it a go. Six years later, she still lives there.

Hard work pays off

In the beginning, she delivered goods by bike and did other small jobs without any financial stability. Afterward, she found work in a Peruvian video game company and started working with 3D models. She adapted the knowledge she gained from years of studying engineering to the video game industry. After one and a half years, her employment contract ended, and she saw Generation as an opportunity to learn how to become a developer in this growing industry. 

“It was not easy, but I did it! I had no experience with coding, so I set my mind to study, study, and study. And I keep doing it, studying and challenging myself to learn more and get better as a video game visual artist,” she said. 

When asked what her parents think about her job, she said they do not really understand what she does.

“As long as my job makes me happy and I am financially stable, they are very happy for me. And I really like my job! I always wanted to pursue a more artistic career, but my family was worried about how much such a job would pay, so I chose engineering as a degree. I know my whole professional journey until now looks like a soap opera, but it was worth it,” she said.  

Her message to prospective applicants

“I am grateful for the transformative opportunity Generation gave me. I hope that more people believe in themselves, study hard, and change their lives for the better in the process. The experience I had during the Generation program bolstered my belief that just because you’ve always done something a certain way doesn’t mean you must keep doing it that way.”