GHC News: Scholarship Spotlight: Kiara Lynne Williams
During my 2010 Winter Term session at DePauw University, I served as the Student Coordinator for the Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing (INWIC) under the guidance of Dr. Gloria Townsend. Through this experience I was able to help with the recruitment and planning of the conference while simultaneously honing my technical and communication skills. During the conference, I was able to meet and network with wonderful technical women from neighboring universities along with working women the industry. On the last day of the conference, Dr. Townsend announced that I earned a scholarship from the National Science Foundation to attend the 2010 Grace Hopper Celebration of Women in Computing Conference in Atlanta, Georgia due to my help and support for the 2010 Indiana Celebration of Women in Computing Conference. I was very shocked and excited when I received my award because I did not know that my contributions to INWIC would land me scholarship to attend GHC.
The 2010 Grace Hopper Conference was one of the best events I have ever attended. There were so many representatives from numerous graduate schools and companies. Everyone was very welcoming and eager to help students find great internships and job opportunities. I was able to attend the resume session where a technical woman helped me develop my resume to represent me and all my accomplishments in a way that would grab the attention of my audience. The help that I received during the resume session allowed me to feel more confident in the work I accomplished as I talked with various representatives about graduate school programs and job opportunities. Even though I was unable to interview with a company during the conference, I received a lot of offers for job interviews after the conference from a few great companies because I was able to share my resume with them during the conference. As a result, I am so proud to announce that I accepted a full-time position at Microsoft.
I believe that every woman in computing should attend the Grace Hopper Celebration because this is a conference where every woman can gain exciting knowledge of issues that are happening in computing all over the world. If you are thinking about attending GHC, please utilize every resource that you can in order to ensure your attendance to GHC. There are many scholarship opportunities available for you to attend this amazing event. If you need any help with anything, please do not hesitate to ask. There are people in the GHC community to help you. Once you make it to the Grace Hopper Celebration you will not regret a thing.
Kiara Williams is a recipient of the 2010 Grace Hopper Regional Scholarship sponsored by the National Science Foundation.
If your organization would like to sponsor Grace Hopper Scholarships and/or Grace Hopper Regional Conferences please contact us.