Part 5 of 5 AfChix Uganda Stories Featuring Liz Mirembe’s GHC 2013 Experiences

Why you must attend GHC 2014 – Liz Mirembe shares her GHC 2013 Experiences

Attending the Grace Hopper Conference in Minneapolis 2-5 October 2013, was an amazing experience for me. I was exposed to many great women and this exposure changed my perception of life in terms of what one can achieve as a woman. I had very high expectations prior to the conference and can boldly say they were fully met! The key highlights for me were:

  • Listening to Megan Smith, the vice president of Google[x]! Apparently there is a group of people working hard and researching about alternative and more affordable means to see that the African Experience of the internet is made better.
  • During our panel presentation on “Mobile experiences for the differently abled users”, we interacted with an amazing audience which gave us great advice on how to proceed with our plans, goals and the vision.
  • The student opportunity lab session opened my mind to new ICT career opportunities and widened my understanding of the existing ones. For example the career possibilities of being a patent lawyer or an agent.
  • The Career Fair at the conference blessed me with an opportunity of being able to explore my career options and I also got advice on how to proceed with my graduate studies.
All in all, the conference was a mind opener and a life changing experience for me. I would like to say thank you very much to Afchix Uganda and the Anita Borg Institute for making it possible. I am encouraging girls in Africa to consider submitting papers and posters so that they can attend the 2014 Grace Hopper Conference for the Celebration of Women in Computing and learn from the experience.
Miss Liz Mukasa Mirembe graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Software Engineering from Makerere University in Kampala Uganda in January 2014.