BU CS Students Reflect on Grace Hopper 2018
By Maisie Guzi
On September 26, 2018, six Boston University Computer Science (CS) students arrived at the 2018 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) in Houston, TX ready for a week full of inspiring speakers, recruiting events, and female empowerment. The annual celebration, designed to bring together women and female-identifying people in computing from around the world, is the world’s largest gathering of women in technology.
GHC is a showcase of companies, technologies, and research focused on the successes of the female technology community. Countless opportunities for networking and career development, as well as 11 featured speakers, mentorship sessions, and an expo hall brimming with stories of women in technology past and present made this year’s event unforgettable.
Attendees praised the high level of support they received from BU throughout their GHC experience. PhD student Larissa Spinelli (GRS’18) was happy with the “institutional support” she received regarding “registration, accomodation, and flights”, which allowed her to focus on the celebration.
Lauren DiSalvo (CAS‘19) was excited to find a strong female presence at GHC, something she had not experienced before as a female CS student.
“When we boarded the plane to Houston the night before the conference started, the vast majority of people on our flight were college students also heading to Grace Hopper,” said DiSalvo. “There’s something pretty cool about being on a flight with all women in CS, since it’s not often the case in classes to have such a large female CS community.”
Students enjoyed the variety and magnitude of networking opportunities at the event, and some even received job offers on site. DiSalvo was excited to find that attending GHC allowed her to streamline the recruitment process and find a potential job more efficiently.
“If I did not attend the conference, I am doubtful that the recruiting process would have moved this quickly for the companies that I interviewed with,” she said. “There is a significant stress lifted off of my shoulders now that I have a job offer, and I anticipate accepting it within the month.”
Rhonda Mak (CAS‘18) was thrilled to form a personal connection with a recruiter at the convention, as well as to expand her network. She received one job offer and has scheduled several phone interviews to follow up with recruiters she met at GHC.
“I had a really good conversation with a software engineer from Niantic Labs. She and I connected over our love of Pokemon and talked about what kind of work she does when developing for Pokemon Go”, said Mak. “We even added each other on LinkedIn and she encouraged me to ask her about anything related to Niantic or software development in general after the conference.”
Attendees also cited the variety of inspiring speakers and powerful women at the conference as contributors to an overall positive experience. Kathryn Quirk (CAS‘19) said she received “invaluable advice” from female computer scientists “in different stages of their careers” at GHC.
“The most important part of Grace Hopper for me was just being in such a supportive environment with so many like-minded women in STEM,” said Quirk. “Having such flexibility in choosing what talks to attend was amazing because I had the ability to tailor my experience to match my interests.”
Masters student Mengdie Zhou (GRS’18) agreed that the wide array of successful women at the conference was an inspiration. She described keynote speaker Justine Cassell, Associate Dean of Technology Strategy and Impact at Carnegie Mellon University, as “encouraging” and “meaningful for someone who is still searching for answers”.
“It’s amazing to see so [many] women are working [in] a computer related field. We seem related to some extent,” said Zhou. “It’s great to know they really enjoy their work.”
Mak said she was “floored” by the experience, describing a welcoming atmosphere of support and community throughout the weekend.
“Women from companies all over the world at all levels of of their careers were ready to support each other from day one of the event,” she said. “I was surprised from all the times I caught myself saying ‘that’s happened to me too!’ when women shared their stories of being in tech. I was met by kind and supportive women and allies at every step of the way.”
All of the students in attendance agreed that GHC was a powerful event that allowed them to see the potential for women working in computing and technology around the world. Helen Zhang (CAS‘19) called the celebration a “once in a lifetime opportunity”, citing the importance of highlighting women in this field.
“The magnitude of the conference reflects how women are a true force in tech to be reckoned with, and also reminds us that there is a place for us in tech.”