Alumna is software engineer at Microsoft

Ever wondered what it’s like to work in Big Tech?

Alumna Laura Castro ’25 says it’s a dream come true. She recently began her job as a software engineer at Microsoft.

“It’s very surreal,” she says. “You walk into the building, and you see people there and you realize, ‘That person made a product that I use,’ and ‘that person did, too.’ And it’s crazy because you realize, ‘I work on those projects, too!’”

Castro graduated last spring with her bachelor’s in computer science from FIU's Knight Foundation School of Computing and Information Sciences and a job waiting at Microsoft in Seattle.

She works on the SharePoint team, creating features that enhance the platform for users. “In SharePoint, you can make your own news pieces, announcements and pages,” she explains.

It’s Castro’s job to expand stylistic options for users. She writes code that nimbly adapts to user’s choices and offers a variety of revamped stylistic options, including fonts, colors, layouts and quote-outs, that create a customizable and visually appealing SharePoint experience, all while taking into account accessibility matters.

“Doing my job feels like doing a puzzle,” Castro says. “There’s a problem, and I have to investigate and solve it. Big Tech can sound intimidating, but it’s not. You can make it in Big Tech if you work hard and put in the effort. A lot of people try to convince themselves not to apply for these kinds of jobs, but don’t reject yourself. That’s somebody else’s job. I applied and look at me now. It has been lifechanging.”

Another highlight about the Microsoft experience? The place itself. “Microsoft is a beautiful campus,” Castro says. The company offers employees workplaces filled with amenities that include things like treehouses used for meetings, restaurants and shops, sports facilities and walking trails.

“There are so many fields to play sports,” Castro says. “I’m excited to join pickleball and softball groups. Sports is a really fun way to meet people and bond with colleagues.”

Panther journey

Castro excelled throughout her time at FIU.

She interned twice at Microsoft and once at Facebook. She was part of INIT FIU, the largest student tech organization on campus. She served for two years as the group’s director of Shellhacks, which is Florida's largest hackathon — a codefest in which people collaborate to build software projects. Through her role, she helped organize Shellhacks, networked with representatives from a variety of top tech organizations and helped connect students with potential internships and job opportunities.

“Shellhacks opened a lot of doors for me,” Castro says. “I got the internship at Facebook by networking with recruiters at Shellhacks. And through Shellhacks and INIT FIU, I met many alumni who gave me referrals and supported me throughout the process of interning and getting a job at Microsoft.”

While interning at Facebook, Castro, who was a freshman at the time, worked on web development, android and iOS engineering and created her own app to help indecisive restaurant goers decide on their next eatery. 

Next, Castro interned at Microsoft. During her first internship at the company, she was part of a program that immerses participants in product management for six weeks and software engineering for six additional weeks. Throughout this time, Castro created a website and other apps to support OneDrive Photos.

During her second internship at Microsoft, Castro discovered her future. She worked on adding innovative formats and design features to SharePoint. She met with designers on the team to brainstorm how to best meet users’ needs and launch the project.

“This is what engineers do,” Castro says. “They have to start from scratch, work with the designers and plan out the project. It was very fulfilling.”

She found her stride — and her team.

The future is bright

Today, Castro continues building on the work she began as an intern on the SharePoint team.

“I work on front-end development,” she says. “Accessibility is extremely important. I didn’t know how important it was until I got into this, and I learned that you have to take into account everything you can think of to make sure no matter what a user does, everything remains accessible.”

For example, if a user switches the screen to “yellow” mode, Castro’s code has to change all of the pages’ fonts, themes and web parts to a contrasting color to ensure that color combinations that could negatively impact accessibility never happen.

Working at Microsoft is filled with meaning for Castro: not only is she pursuing the career she loves, but she’s also making her family proud.

Castro is happy to say that her mom “is a badass girl boss.”

“My mom is a single mom,” Castro says. “She moved here from Colombia. She didn’t know how to speak English at first. She only had a few years of college from Colombia, and she’s worked really hard to provide for my brother and me.”

Castro saw how hard her mom worked to give her kids opportunities. It made Castro hungry to succeed.

“My mom always wanted us to focus on our studies,” Castro says. “School was always our priority. I worked really hard for myself, but mostly for my family. I’m the eldest child. I want to pave the way for my brother. And I want to make my mom proud.”

Her mom, who recently helped Castro move into her new apartment in Seattle, is definitely a proud Panther mom. “It’s been really exciting for her to see me graduate and come work for Microsoft,” Castro says.

And this fall, Castro’s brother, Brandon Daguer, began his studies at FIU as a civil engineering major ready to shine in his field.  

For Castro, reaching her dream was about following her passion and helping define her family’s future. Her hard work is already paying off, and she’s just getting started.