Early this year in September, I attended the 2018 Grace Hopper Celebration (https://ghc.anitab.org/ghc-18/) in Houston, Texas. This annual conference is a celebration of women computer scientists and women in technology. I was lucky enough to attend as a student scholar, so my advice to anyone who’s interested in attending is to apply for the scholarships! It’s so worth it.
Anyways, the conference consisted of amazing keynotes, meet and greets with powerful women in the industry, a hack-a-thon (we didn’t have time for this, but maybe next time!), workshops, talks, and the biggest career fair I’ve ever seen!
Because my event was so early, I was mostly scouting out for ideas. I split my time between the career fair and attending as many talks as I could (a difficult feat, as they took place in 2 adjacent buildings and were often at the same time). I was especially inspired by the numerous talks on technology as a tool for change. I even got to chat briefly to a UX designer from the Loon project after her panel. I mentioned that I was doing a senior thesis project and asked for any advice, and she emphasized research, especially user research.
My first thesis idea was inspired by the keynote by Jessica Matthews, but I couldn’t land on anything solid so I moved on to a different idea for my final. But it was still an incredible and empowering experience! I my passions lie in computing, animation and design, and there were definitely a fair share of people in all those industries. Looking forward to coming back in the near future!
