BYU Information Systems students left the Grace Hopper Celebration with renewed confidence and strong connections in the tech industry.
AnitaB.org hosts the world’s largest annual gathering of women technologists at the Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing. Five BYU IS students –Ching Ching Tong, Maya Roney, Nicole Tucker, Karli Ellis, and Brittany Rowe –attended this year’s event in Houston, Texas on September 26-28.
The Grace Hopper Celebration includes addresses from prominent guest speakers and workshops where participants can learn about industry innovations and trends. Keynote speakers this year included Justine Cassell, the associate dean of Technology Strategy and Impact at Carnegie Mellon University – School of Computer Science; founder and CEO of Uncharted Power Jessica O. Matthews; and Padmasree Warrior, CEO and Chief Development Officer of NIO U.S.
The conference also provides opportunities for recruiting and networking. “Most of us decided from the beginning of the conference that we were mainly there to recruit,” Karli Ellis, a first year MISM student, said. The five students heard from previous attendees about the great internship opportunities promoted at the event and wanted to make the most of their time there.
Karli continues, “BYU does an amazing job at getting companies to come to campus, but the career fair at the conference was massive! Google, Walmart, Slack, Robinhood … so many companies were there looking for interns with our skills.” Most of the attending BYU students received summer internship offers by the end of the conference.
Though recruiting took up most of their time at the conference, the students were able to attend some workshops. A favorite among them was a workshop on impostor syndrome by Dr. Kajal Damji Gada, a roboticist and engineer at Reality AI. Referring to Harold Hillman’s work, she describes impostor syndrome as “a psychological [phenomenon] in which a person cannot internalize their success and often attribute it to luck, timing or other external factors,” a mentality found in many women and other underrepresented minorities in the professional world.
The workshop focused on recognizing the syndrome and suggested ways women can overcome it. This topic resonated with many of the BYU students in attendance. “Seeing as I am a victim to this ‘Impostor Syndrome,’ I was really grateful for this workshop,” said Maya Roney, a second year MISM student.
Ching Ching Tong, who was recently admitted into the MISM program, adds, “I was reminded that everything I have achieved wasn’t by chance but because I worked incredibly hard, and I deserve what I have received.”
The Grace Hopper Celebration allows BYU students to see the tech world outside of BYU. It highlights the work of women in this competitive and ever-changing industry, allowing them to connect and move into the future together. The five attending students all used the same word to describe the conference and its impact on them as women and as young professionals: empowering.
“It was a turning point for me. Going there … made me recognize that all my hard work put into the IS Core and past internships is paying off, that big companies want to pay me real money for the skills I’ve worked so hard to develop,” said first year MISM student Nicole Tucker. “It’s very humbling, and it makes me feel like opportunities are unlimited, and I can really go out into the world and make the difference for good that I want to make!”
For more information about the Grace Hopper Celebration, click here.