Graduated with a B.A. in History from Cal in 2011. Struggled for 6+ months to land a job. Took any miscellaneous writing job on oDesk (now Upwork) that I could get. Saw a lot of contracts for something called "technical writing" and they often paid much better than other writing work. Figured out that it was basically "instruction manuals for computer professionals". Realized it was a good fit. Took a bunch of basic C.S. courses at community college. Family friend got my foot in the door at an IoT startup, but it was really those C.S. classes that persuaded them to give me a try. And the fact that I would work for peanuts. Turned out that I was competent in the work and I really enjoyed programming. A few years later, Google recruited me, and I've been at Google ever since.

I technically have an A.S. in C.S. from that community college, but I think my circuitous path fits the "non-traditional STEM background" criteria.

Computers have been great to me! Very thankful that I stumbled into this path.