Journey of a ‘Woman in Tech’ for ‘Google I/O ’18’

Hey Well Wishers,

I am Gunjan Aggarwal, a final year student pursuing Computer Science Engineering B.E. (Hons) at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS), Pilani, India.

I have been selected to attend Google I/O - an annual developers’ conference held by Google in San Francisco, California through Code Jam to I/O for Women (an international coding contest), with a travel stipend of $500. I am one among the top 150 students worldwide who have been selected to attend the conference.

The only thing that slows me from going forward is the remaining travel and lodging budget. I am a daughter of a single mother and she has constantly supported me for my educational endeavors, but unfortunately she is unable to support me for this milestone of my life.

By being able to attend the event, I’ll get an opportunity to build network with developers, designers, tech enthusiasts, and interact with researchers, professors, entrepreneurs, and people I have only read about in tech blogs. I'll be able to attend sessions about upcoming technology, ask questions, and learn from some of the innovative brains in the world.

This is a perfect opportunity for me to expand the horizon of knowledge while still being a student and before starting my career. It is a step further towards becoming a strong, independent person who is thrilled by technology and science.

I believe that opportunities like these inspire a lot of women to take a step forward and feel confident about their skills. Various communities are taking initiatives to motivate women in technology. I was inspired by women who cleared Code Jam in previous years and I would feel wonderful if with this achievement I can inspire even a single tech enthusiast. As a matter of fact, the awareness about such opportunities is pretty less in my region and by being able to share my first hand experience and learnings with fellow girls in my college and school, I’d be able to inspire them to dream in this direction as well. Also, your help would enable me, and indirectly them, to at least try to grab these opportunities without having second thoughts about the financial constraints.

For those of you who wish to know more about the conference, please follow the link: Google I/O 2018

You may also check out the summary of last year's keynote by Sundar Pichai, CEO, Google here: Sundar Pichai's I/O 2017 Keynote

To fulfill my dream, I need your support and every single contribution will take me one step closer to my dream. After all, as Ursula Burns said, "Dreams do come true, but not without the help of others, a good education, a strong work ethic, and the courage to lean in"