My reasons for attending Grace Hopper Conference

Hi there!

I am Sharon Paradesi, a graduate student at The University of Georgia. This would be my first time to Grace Hopper Conference and I am so glad that I have been awarded a scholarship to attend it!

Below are the reasons that I am really excited about attending GHC -

- Meeting Fran Ellen. When I read her interview in the ACM-W summer ‘08 newsletter, I said to myself “It would be so wonderful to actually meet and talk with her”.

- I am the founding chair of ACM-W chapter at UGA. I would love to know the challenges and insights other women chapters’ committees have. And, as always, I would be delighted to share my experience too.

- The sessions themselves! I really like the topics chosen in the sessions. Keeping in mind that I am - interested in pursuing a PhD after my Master’s degree, passionate about inspiring girls and women to join the technology field, keen to learn about the challenges others faced and learn from their experiences, making the choice about which talks to attend was a bit easy. I would recommend this strategy to anyone debating which talk to attend in a session.

- Networking with the participants of the conference. Many posts and replies in the Syster’s and ResearcHer’s mailing lists have inspired and taught me valuable lessons and I am excited to have received an opportunity to meet them in person. I read about the CONNECT project and think that it is an wonderful idea to help people contact those who have similar interests.

- Networking and resume building workshops. I am sure that there is a lot that I could learn from them.

Thanks for reading the post and hope to see you in October at the Grace Hopper Conference!