How a mother became a Software Developer at 36

The story of Sonal Devlekar is one of true inspiration, resilience, and determination. As disheartening as it sounds, a woman’s dreams are often disrupted after they get married and start a family. However, Sonal broke both the cycle and the stereotypes, by becoming a Software Developer at the age of 36, while also being a mother of two children. 

With her decision to chase her dreams despite being told by many that it is too late, she has become an inspirational example to a lot of people, especially women. 

Sonal Devlekar

Sonal Devlekar comes from Mumbai and has a B. Tech degree in Information Technology from Mumbai University. After her graduation in 2007, she was working as a professor for diploma engineering courses. Sonal is well-loved by her students as well as her colleagues who helped her thoroughly through the course of her journey. 

Sonal started working right after graduation and has not stopped or looked back since. 

Sonal’s Career Transformation with Newton School

Despite having a successful teaching career, Sonal felt that her career goals were incomplete. “I used to teach students enrolled in the diploma engineering program, and after graduating many of my students landed great jobs. This often made me wonder about my own dream of becoming a software developer”, said Sonal. 

Although Sonal took a leap of faith and started applying for upskilling courses and jobs on different platforms, she faced many challenges due to her age and lack of experience in the practical field. But in 2022, she joined Newton School’s Full-stack Development certificate course. 

Owing to Sonal’s dedication and hardwork, she acquired all the practical knowledge required and more to establish herself in the tech industry. In just a period of 8-12 months, Sonal became an expert coder with knowledge over multiple programming languages and tools including DSA, React, Redux, Java, CSS, Node.js, SQL, among others.

Where is Sonal today?

Today, Sonal Devlekar is working as a Software Developer at her dream company, Epsilon, in Bangalore. In her own words, she said, “Everything in my life is settled now, I am happy and content.” 

Following in his wife’s footsteps, Sonal’s husband, Amit has also enrolled in the Full-Stack Development course at Newton School and is set to bring growth to his career. They are indeed a power couple, building the life they always dreamt of, one code at a time. 

Someone has said it right - ‘Once a teacher, always a teacher’, and Sonal has taught us to keep going, even when it feels like it might be too late.