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AspireIT Program: Bulldog Bytes!

The Aspirations Award - A Winner's Perspective

Located under the warm and glowing sun of Southern California is University of California, Irvine, the venue for the 2013 Southern California NCWIT Aspirations award ceremony. Congratulating a bright group of amazing females on their technical expertise and technological success, the ceremony definitely brought upon a new spotlight in my life that gave me the motivation and inspiration to aspire further. I was absolutely stunned at the arrangement of this event and the phenomenal speakers that shared their experiences and insight with us.&nbsp;The wonderful ladies with whom I had the chance to meet were so lovely and social. From our conversations about our common interests of fictional characters to favorite computer language, we bonded very well and developed a greater appreciation for one another. With such a diverse group of students, I loved interacting with each and every one of them, and was awe-struck by some of the phenomenal achievements of these ladies.&nbsp;The speakers we had from Microsoft and the UC Irvine CS department staff were so incredibly inspiring. They spoke with one purpose in mind of encouraging females to pursue their dreams and never giving into the stereotypical notions held by the society. These speeches, aside from being very informative and helpful, marked my source of inspiration and really made me realize how big of an impact I can really have on the field. And at the culmination of the speeches, we received the beautifully designed award and the &ldquo;swag bag&rdquo; containing several goodies from companies like Facebook, Blizzard and Google. &nbsp;We also received wonderful connections and networking opportunities with people from Microsoft, who were the primary speakers at the ceremony. It was simply a fantastic and exhilarating experience. The perfect combination of ambiance, ladies, speakers, food, and gifts made this day unforgettable. I am still so moved from the award ceremony that I have captured this day in my memory, and made it an essay for my personal statement for an application.&nbsp;Truly, the ceremony was a huge blast that I will always remember. &nbsp;It made a lasting impression on me and really compelled me to get involved in the IT industry. I am so thankful for this recognition, and especially thankful to NCWIT that arranged this ceremony and provided us a magnificent experience.&nbsp;

Warm and Glowing Sun of Southern California

The Central Texas Affiliate Award Ceremony from two distinct perspectives

I never would have guessed that I would have the opportunity to present my research and initiative to increase the number of females in STEM fields to the European Parliament at the&nbsp;<a href="http://www.itu.int/en/action/women/girls-ict-day/Pages/2013.aspx" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">ITU Tech Needs Girls Conference</a>&nbsp;in Brussels. With Intel's generous sponsorship, this trip turned out to be not only a fun adventure in the incredibly diverse and cultured country of Belgium, but also an amazing learning opportunity and chance to meet international leaders and business representatives from many countries. I enjoyed hearing more about how others are working towards similar goals of getting more girls involved in the tech fields.On the first day of the trip we were so tired that we dumped our bags in the hotel and crashed in an effort to sleep off the ever-present jetlag. However, after futile attempts to fall asleep in broad daylight, we decided to explore the beautiful city of Belgium and grab a bite to eat. For dinner that night we ate with a group of international leaders in both politics and education and were able to delve into some of the most pressing issues facing girls in STEM fields in their respective countries. Later that night we enjoyed Belgium waffles, of course!The next morning I attended the Technology Symposium hosted by the European Union and learned to mix and create audio like a DJ. I had never done anything like that before, so it was a great experience and I was able to learn with the local Belgian students who were also attending the symposium.Some of the businesspeople from the corporate world (like Intel and Cisco), politicians, and educational leaders were at the symposium for media and press conferences. We were bussed to the European Parliament building and I changed quickly into more professional clothes so I could present to international politicians and representatives. I realized how many countries were represented because when I glanced around, it seemed that everyone was conversing in a different language.My speech went very well, and I think it was well-received by the audience. I enjoyed sharing what I had done and what I plan to do in the future to increase the number of girls in the field by starting at a younger age. People were so interested in the FACT camp (Females Advancing Computing and Technology) that I started for middle school girls that it made me realize its true promise. The interest in the camp made me think that maybe the program could be rolled out nationally or maybe even internationally to increase the number of girls taking computing and tech classes, and entering these traditionally male-dominated fields.&nbsp;After the conference, we celebrated an amazing day of presentations, photos, networking, and "girls-in-tech" love with more traditional food. Ruthe Farmer,&nbsp;Meiri&nbsp;(another Aspirations Award recipient), my mom, and I were also able to drive to another city called Brugges the next day for some more sight-seeing. We bought chocolate and enjoyed roaming the small, cobble-stone streets of the city. On the last day, my mom and I were able to visit the&nbsp;<a href="http://atomium.be/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Atomium</a>&nbsp;(science nerds!), and the Manneken Pis, both of which are national symbols in Belgium. Of course, I was wearing my Intel STS jacket throughout the entire trip!In all seriousness though, I am so grateful to Intel and NCWIT for providing me with the opportunity to spread my views on Girls in Tech with powerful people at the European Parliament and to learn from the leaders, educators, and politicians on what they think the future holds for girls entering tech fields.

ITU Tech Needs Girls Conference in Brussels

The NCWIT Summit Ambassador Experience

I wasn't quite sure what to make of it all as I timidly approached the check-in table. Dressed up, with my parents and incredible STEM mentor there to support me, I joined the flock of other girls and their families rapidly gathering. I was still in awe of being chosen as a Colorado Aspirations Affiliate winner, and I was pretty excited about the opportunities the award and the organization would open up for me. As I told the event coordinator who I was, I was immediately greeted by ample amiable smiles and words of congratulations. I was even more stunned as I was handed an armful of goodies - a bag full of exciting objects from various sponsors, and, best of all, the brand-new Google Chromebook I am using to write this blog!Still in awe and terribly excited, I entered the dining hall and made my way to my seat. There, rapidly greeted by more congratulations and praise, I soon found other girls much like myself. After a few minutes of getting to know each other, all of the winners were escorted down the staircase to have a group photograph taken. After a few "move to the left...no the other left" and things of that nature, we finally had an awesome photo to capture the memorable night.While waiting on our delicious entrees to be served, each winner was invited into a room with a waiting videographer where we were asked to describe how the event made us feel, what it meant to us, and what advice we'd give to other girls in technology fields. It was a really great way to capture us at that moment and share our special night with other NCWIT and STEM girls all over the country.Dinner was composed of delicious food and incredible motivational speakers from various sponsors and NCWIT itself. Presentations were given on a variety of technology subjects, such as the lack of women in the field, why tech is so cool, and why girls must keep working with computers. We all sat feeling very inspired, refreshed, and full of good food.After a few more speakers, dessert was served and we had time to meet other guests and the speakers. I was able to make some amazing connections with professionals in a variety of tech fields, and have discussions at a level of intellect often sorely missing on a day-to-day basis for girls like us.The NCWIT ceremony and program has really opened my eyes to the need for more women in technology fields. I feel proud to be part of this unique, elite group of women who are changing our society for the better. Thank you, NCWIT, and all of the sponsors for helping girls like me achieve our dreams!

The Colorado Aspirations Award Experience

Bob Beck did it again. He wore his tux to co-host the Philadelphia Area Aspirations Award ceremony. Two years in a row, so it must be a tradition.There were winners from last year who won again; there were new faces. The repeaters talked about college choices; the first timers were amazed at the fuss everyone was making over them. Dean Jean Ann Linney of&nbsp;<a href="http://www1.villanova.edu/villanova.html" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Villanova’s</a>&nbsp;College of Liberal Arts and Sciences welcomed everyone. She confided later that it was great to see winners from ordinary public high schools along side winners from prestigious private schools.The&nbsp;<a href="http://sitwithme.org/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">red chair</a>&nbsp;came too, and had a great time as students and teachers took photos of themselves sitting on it, standing beside it, and telling its story.The keynote speaker, Sandy Kearney, displayed a photo montage of her activities as a technical woman, flying a DC10, and exploring emerging technologies for IBM. She encouraged the students to pursue their passions and to ignore those who claim you can’t do it.The NCWIT representative, Ronnie Caropreso, got stuck in traffic and arrived as the awards were being presented. She gave some closing remarks and urged the students to pursue their passions. Later Ronnie and Sandy were seen comparing career notes and promising to be in touch with one another.Bob noted that two of the sponsor representatives and the keynote speaker were his former students.The Villanova Conference Center provided a delicious dinner with the usual array of desserts. Bob had coached everyone to save room for dessert and to choose at least three different ones.Michele Grab, the co-host from the University of Pennsylvania, was accompanied by Kate Miller, a national award winner in 2012 who is now a student at University of Pennsylvania. These women talked about the Advancing Women in Engineering program at Penn and its activities to promote computing the middle schools and high schools.Congratulations to all of the award winners!

Villanova hosts the Philadelphia Area Aspirations Award

Aspirations in Computing is excited to announce a new partnership with&nbsp;<a href="https://www.piggybackr.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PiggyBackr</a>&nbsp;to help young women fund their technology projects – from raising money for a robotics team, to building a mobile application, or launching a new venture! PiggyBackr is a fundraising website that teaches youth how to raise money for their teams, schools, and projects online. The PiggyBackr website makes it easy for teams or individuals to raise money from friends, family, and business, get motivated, and have fun.Visit&nbsp;<a href="https://www.piggybackr.com" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">PiggyBackr’s website</a>&nbsp;to view and contribute to several Aspirations in Computing Award recipients and their projects, like:<ul><li>Alexa Adams, who&nbsp;is developing a Google Glass app for the deaf community,</li><li>Abril Vela, who&nbsp;is organizing an encouraging environment for Chicago girls interested in IT, and</li><li>Melanie Llanos, who is creating a summer camp for children to learn about computing.</li></ul>You can read more about the partnership and see other examples of girls' projects on&nbsp;<a href="https://web.archive.org/web/20130423211033/http://www.women2.com/5-girl-coders-under-21-to-watch/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Women 2.0</a>. Good luck to all of the young women raising money!&nbsp;

Aspirations in Computing Award recipients raise funds for their technical projects

NCWIT, Bloomberg & FIRST Roll Out the Red Carpet for Young Women in Tech in NYC

Broadening my Experience in Technology

How to Write an Award-Winning Application!

My Trip to the White House

My Fun-Filled Technological Summer!

My Aspirations Experience

Interning for the DoD

2012 Nebraska & SW Iowa Affiliate Awards

A Woman's Place Is in Technology

As part of an effort to encourage more young women to choose careers in technology, Tennessee Tech University (TTU) Computer Science department, an Academic Alliance member of the National Center for Women &amp; Information Technology (NCWIT) has recognized 28 high-school women for their accomplishments and aspirations in computing and technology. This was the first time the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing competition was held for the state of Tennessee and it will be held annually hereafter. The award event was held at TTU STEM Center on April 21st, from featured a keynote address by Ms. Amy Henderson, Director of Operations of Firefly Logic, a Nashville based custom software solutions company.The 13 Winners and 15 runners up from high school all cross Tennessee is listed&nbsp;here. The award recipients received trophies, certificate, and cash prizes among other swags. Tennessee Tech University offers three&nbsp;scholarships&nbsp;for eligible award recipients who will be joining the Computer Science program there.&nbsp;The Tennessee Affiliate of the NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing is a collaborative effort between NCWIT and faculty and students of Computer Science department at Tennessee Tech. The Award co-chairs are Dr. Martha Kosa and Dr. Ambareen Siraj.

First Tennessee NCWIT Award for Aspirations in Computing

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