GHC News: GHC Scholarship Spotlight: Tyelisa Shields

In August, 2008, as a first year graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University’s Information Networking Institute, I had the opportunity to apply for Carnegie Mellon’s Academic Underwriter scholarship to attend the Grace Hopper Conference (GHC). Fortunately, my essay was amongst the winners, thus I was able to attend my first GHC. Honestly, I had no idea what to expect of an all women’s conference; nevertheless I was willing to explore, and am delighted that I did! Actually, I enjoyed GHC 2008 so much that I applied and received a scholarship to attend GHC 2009 as well.

At GHC, I signed up to participate in CONNECT. CONNECT is a high-tech approach to networking which allows conference attendees to share contact information by scanning each other’s name tags. At the end of each day, we received an email with the information of individuals that we connected with throughout the conference’s duration. The Grace Hopper Conference embraces communication and is an outstanding way to broaden your social network. By the end of GHC, I gained contact information from a number of individuals who have since become my mentors and life-long friends.

Additionally, I attended resume workshops with recruiters from companies such as Yahoo and Google. The workshops allowed me to understand what recruiters look for and how my resume could stand out by using power words and expounding upon my objectives. Subsequently, I interviewed with several great companies at the conference and am proud to say that I have accepted a fulltime position with Hewlett-Packard.

For those who are considering applying for a scholarship to attend GHC, I highly recommend that you do so. My experience at Grace Hopper enhanced my academic career at Carnegie Mellon by allowing me to understand different cultures and how to deal with tough situations. It is comforting to know that problems you may have are not yours alone; others have encountered the same obstacles and have persevered. Over the past two years, I have grown personally, professionally, and have become aware of the challenges that technical women face. The Grace Hopper Conference has had a very strong influence on my present success and has built a strong foundation for the destined greatness ahead.

Tyelisa Shields was a recipient of the 2008 Carnegie Mellon Academic Underwriter Scholarship and a recipient of the 2009 Grace Hopper Conference Scholarship supported by Intuit.

Apply for a Grace Hopper Scholarship. Applications are due by Friday, May 14, 2010.