May Mascenik is an IT Engineer and Project Manager based in Los Angeles who works for ITP, a company that focuses on information design, IoT, and other new technologies. She became dual-certified as both a MongoDB Developer and DBA in 2016 after being selected as a MongoDB Diversity Scholar. May's certification journey was motivated by her desire to learn and contribute to the MongoDB community. She has worked with various databases including relational ones like Microsoft SQL, Pervasive SQL, MySQL, and Oracle, but prefers MongoDB's flexible and dynamic data model for its NoSQL database capabilities. As a certified professional, May finds that it has given her great confidence and recognition, and she encourages others to pursue certification, highlighting the benefits of hands-on practice, sticking with official study guides, and perseverance despite any setbacks during the exam process.