May 17, 2023
The Grace Hopper Celebration is an event that I will never forget. Right after switching my major from Pre-Med to Computer Science, I was looking for communities and opportunities for women in tech to help me start up my career as well as meet other girls in this field. I found MSU Women in Computing just right before the Spring semester of 2022 ended. I wasn’t very familiar with WIC nor did I know anyone in the organization so I was a little reluctant to join. In May, I saw that WIC had applications for sponsorships to attend the Grace Hopper Conference and was so excited to sign up. I was so fortunate enough to have my application approved despite being new to WIC.
The Grace Hopper Conference spanned across one week, so I was a little nervous. Obviously traveling and living with a group of people I was unfamiliar with, going to a conference I had no idea what to expect from, and trying to keep up with my classes was kind of scary to me. But let me tell you, this experience was ANYTHING but scary.
Staying with the other girls from WIC was a little scary at first because I didn’t know anyone, but everyone is so welcoming and they’ll always ask you to go do things with them. I immediately felt welcomed and even made some really good friends of mine during this trip. Obviously, we would go to the conference together, but in a group chat often we organized outings like going out to eat, or shopping together. On the last day, a small group of us who were waiting for our flight went to Disney Springs for the day.
If you communicated with your professors about attending, they often gave extensions on assignments and were very understanding. This didn’t mean you could slack off for the week. We’re girls in STEM. At night, everyone would be in the living room chatting and doing homework. Often if you had trouble understanding your assignments and if someone already took that class, they clarified and helped you out (everyone in WIC is so so so smart).
The conference. At first, the conference was overwhelming, I had no idea what I was supposed to do, there were an abundance of companies to meet with, both online and in person, tech related activities like a botanical garden VR experience, and live speakers. In person, I got to meet with companies like Bank of America, Warner Bros, Apple, Discover, Tesla, Snapchat, etc. A lot of companies gave away freebies like mugs, blankets, candy, bags, etc. I also had a few interviews lined up during the conference and after as well. I wasn’t able to participate in the other activities or attend the live speaker lectures but I heard that they were very enjoyable. The conference also allowed me to network with recruiters and learn more about different companies. I connected with so many recruiters and other girls I met at the conference on LinkedIn.
Words honestly can’t describe everything that happened at the conference nor can it describe how memorable and enjoyable it was. If given the opportunity again I would most definitely go again but this time I know what to expect and how to make the most of my time at the conference. For anyone wanting to attend the conference, I 100% recommend it even if you’re not looking for job opportunities, you learn a lot from other women in the tech field and it’s very inspiring.
