Chance Encounters!
Part 1 of “Everything you need to know about GHC” series
It all began when Sharon Rachel Manu a.k.a Iddivettu* Rachel made her way to the cooja (a small earthenware used to store water) which was situated right next to my room.
“Also, don’t forget to apply for GHCI!”
“Mmm hmm…”
She had just left my hostel room a few seconds ago after having finished our weekly talk sessions where we got together to rant about our mundane yet oh so happening lives. It was half past eight and she was still in her uniform.
And I knew she would have to come back in. She was my senior at college but she was more like family to me.
“I will let you know when the submissions open”, she said as she put her head round the door and stretched out her hand as I handed out her Id card back to her.
“I will be sure to check it out, ma’am!” I replied, winking at her.
“You better!” she said, as left for her room. Sharon was one among the 200 students who were awarded the prestigious GHCI student scholarship. Basically, I dared not to defy her.
The scholarship was an all-expense paid trip to Bangalore which let you take part in the Grace Hopper Conference which was held annually in the state. To know more about GHCI, check out the awesome GHCI Rethink Wiki
It happened to be one of those Fridays where you knew you had assignments to complete but you would rather google random stuff than finish your work. Since I had some free time on my hands, I decided to learn about GHCI and how the submission works.
And… that is when it happened!
I stumbled across the magnificent GHC conference. (Thank you Google!)
So what exactly is GHC?
The Grace Hopper Celebration is the world’s largest gathering of women technologists. It is produced by AnitaB.org and presented in partnership with ACM. GHC 18 will be held from Sep. 26–28 in Houston, Texas.
Honouring Anita Borg, a pioneer in the field of computer science, the GHC conference is conducted annually to celebrate and empower women to pursue careers in technology.
Reading into it, I found out that the receiving the scholarship meant an all-expense paid trip to attend the conference and boasted of a chance to participate in a career fair where reputed companies and firms all over the world would take part in.
Frankly, that’s all I researched about it.
I knew, for better or for worse, I just had to apply!
Here is another brilliant article which really got me all excited to apply for the scholarship: 11 Reasons Why You Should (Definitely) Attend GHC 2018
The Takeaway here!
Coming back to the quote posted above, J.F Kennedy rightly pointed out that every accomplishment starts with a decision to try!
It was my curiosity and decision to give it a try which ultimately led to where I stand today — with a GHC scholarship in my hands!
More about the scholarship and the application process in the next post!
- Iddivettu — Malayalam for lightning. Sharon Rachel Manu acquired this unique name owing to her impeccable athletic skills in addition to her academic accomplishments. She was an all-rounder indeed!
