This year I had the honor of attending the Grace Hopper Celebration because of WiCS and the University of Waterloo. I am so thankful to have had the opportunity to meet so many incredible women. It was inspiring to hear that we all had similar stories which allowed us to form meaningful connections.
In addition to meeting an array of new people, I had the chance to attend “An Introduction to Open Source Quantum Computing with Qiskit” by Abby Mitchell, Quantum Developer Advocate at IBM. In this talk I was able to learn so many new things in relation to Quantum Computing and the value of open-source code. Abby also took the time to explain how Grace Hopper received a multitude of help when she coded despite not having “Open Source” yet invented or access to stackexchange! I am so excited to continue my learning in the Quantum space thanks to an amazing introduction from this presentation.
I also had the privilege of having breakfast with Sue Harnett, Founder of Rewriting the Code and fellow uWaterloo students. We were able to speak about the challenges of being a woman in tech and how having a community really has the opportunity to bring people together. Smiles, laughter, and tears were shared as we spoke about the challenges we have faced in this field. Despite these difficulties, we knew that we could now rely on each other to conquer any future enigmas.
Having handed out a number of resumes and having the privilege to speak to multiple successful computer scientists and software engineers, I was inspired by each of their individual paths. Some people had been coding since high school while others only started after having their first child. At the end of the day, it did not matter how you got into tech, but that we all had the same goal of changing the world.
Ultimately, my imposter syndrome has not been cured but I was taught that I am not alone. It is normal to question your purpose in the tech space, in fact you will probably do so a number of times. However, what was clear after attending the conference was that you have a team of women supporting you and you are never truly alone with your problems.
GHC was an incredible event that allowed me to increase my confidence, network, and gave me the space to grow as an individual. I would recommend this experience to all students studying computer science or software engineering but especially to those who sometimes feel like they cannot see themselves in the classroom or workforce. Whether it be only knowing one other girl in your class or being the only female in your co-op department, just remember the world is so much bigger than your immediate location. There are MILLIONS of people who are ready to support you as you continue making an impact on the world.