CRACKING GHCI’20 BY VANSHIKA GARG
AnitaB.org, in collaboration with the Association of Computing Machinery (ACM), organizes the Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) globally. GHC is the world’s largest gathering of women in computer science. All the scholars and attendees of the GHC Conference gain access to academic workshops, career opportunities, building a community, inspirational role models and memories of a lifetime!
AnitaB.org, founded in 1997, is a nonprofit social enterprise organising programs to empower women and under-tapped communities in technical fields with an aim to achieve international equity in the global technical workshop by 2025.
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Our interviewee today, Ms Vanshika Garg, is a final year undergraduate student pursuing her Bachelor’s degree in Computer Science from Banasthali Vidyapith, India. She is a highly passionate and accomplished young professional in her fields. She has received several prestigious scholarships including the Grace Hopper Celebration India’20 and even the EATON Scholarship. She has expertise and hands-on experience across various domains in technology. While the list of her achievements can go on and on, here is an interview with Vanshika as a GHCI’20.
— INTERVIEW —
Q1) Describe the application process in brief.
GHCI is a wonderful opportunity for women students to start a great career in Technology. You get a chance to learn, network, and get inspired at the largest gathering of Women Technologists in Asia! GHCI usually held in Bangalore from 28-30th October but due to lockdown globally, we experienced it virtually this time. Deserving women Students from computing, engineering and IT backgrounds get this scholarship.
Application is divided into major 8 sections:
1. Applicant Information (Name, email, Academic Details, Address, Contact etc.)
2. Question regarding your educational qualifications (Undergraduate. / Graduate/Post Graduate, Program of study, CGPA etc.)
3. Statement of Purpose: (max word limit: 100 words) – How would you benefit through GHCI? How it aligns with your career goals in STEM?
4. Technical Skills/ Contribution made in open-source projects, Area of expertise etc.
5. Participation in program-related Co-curricular activities (max: 50 words)
6. Video Testimonial (2-3 minutes)
7. Proof of student status (ID Proof) & resume
8. Faculty information whom you’ve taken a recommendation from.
Later they ask you for the acknowledgement that all the details shared are correct and best of your knowledge.
Q2) Tell us a little bit about yourself. Could be your story. Feel free to write about anything fun, deep, emotional or motivating!
My name is Vanshika Garg. I lead the Google Developer Student Clubs at Banasthali Vidyapith, Rajasthan. I am pursuing a Bachelor’s of Technology in Computer Science. I have always believed in building good things together. and I am super passionate about inventing and investing in ideas and helping students to learn things practically.
Q3) Major accomplishments
I am a Backend-Developer alumnus at Crio.do, GSSoC’21 Mentor & Tesseract Coding Mentor, EATON Scholar, 21 Under 21 Award Winner by GirlScript Foundation and UPES CSI National Level Hackathon Winner.
Q4) Why do you think you were selected?
I was selected because I believe that if you put your mind to solving the hardest problems in the world and you do it one step at a time and you focus on being intellectually fierce and relentless, you can build a community that can be scaled globally.
Q5) Any advice you would like to give future applicants?
A smooth sea never made a skilled sailor, no matter how hard the past was, you can always begin again. Make each day a masterpiece to ensure that you do things differently from everyone else. So, if you want to be happy, set goals that commence your thoughts liberate your energy and grow your hopes!
Quoting Grace Hooper herself, “A ship in port is safe, but that’s not what ships are built for.”
She was an inspiration for many and always encourage people to go out of their way, and walk that extra mile to take risks to become to achieve success of the highest degree! So, keep trying and don’t give up!
Feeling inspired?
Click here, to connect with Vanshika on LinkedIn!
Scholarship Track 