Stepping into the Computer Science Office, I was welcomed by Middle School CSE teacher Ms. Deborah Orret’s warm smile and her tidy but personalized desk. Her desk was an arrangement of colors, including a vibrant keyboard, a baby pink mouse pad, and hot pink post-its scattered across the wall, hinting at her fun style and attention to detail.

Ms. Orret graduated from UCLA in 2020 with a degree in cognitive science and a specialization in computer science. Despite the Covid-19 hiring freeze, after graduating, she accepted a teaching and curriculum development position for Pasadena High School’s APP Academy, a four-year computer science program designed to equip students for success in a technology driven world. Although she valued the constant influx of new ideas and administrators that come with public school, she was drawn to Westridge for its strong sense of community and independence from a public school system. At Westridge, she can devote more time and effort into her teaching rather than managing resources across multiple schools. For Ms. Orret, Westridge was the perfect job that incorporated two of her passions: computer science and girls’ education.

When asked about how she developed an interest in Computer Science and Engineering (CSE), Ms. Orret compared it to “Stockholm syndrome,” a psychological response where hostages or abuse victims develop positive feelings and loyalty toward their captors or abusers. Despite the difficulty of her college computer science classes, which often pushed her to the brink of changing career paths, she always found herself drawn back to the class and overcoming that frustration. 

Having grown up in Claremont, California and now living in Echo Park, Ms. Orret enjoys Los Angeles’s vibrant small concert and stand-up comedy scenes. She enjoys staying up to date with new places popping up around town and trying new restaurants in her free time. “I’ll go to really small venues and see shows and people I’ve never heard of, but they’re always really good,” Ms. Orret said.

Juggling the roles as a CSE teacher, advisor, and Middle School B Team volleyball coach, Ms. Orret carries a lot of responsibility, but she’s excited to share the value of CSE with her students. “In the same way that English and history allow you to understand the world in a different way, [CSE] is also one way to understand it,” said Ms. Orret. In a world where technology is rapidly evolving, she believes in the necessity of CSE skills, especially for young girls. 

When asked about how she hopes to impact Westridge and the broader CSE community, Ms. Orret said, “I wish that more people viewed computer science and engineering in that way where it doesn’t have to be this thing that you’re deeply, intrinsically passionate about, but it can be something that you still see value in because it helps you understand the world in a different perspective.”