My Experiences at RESPECT
By Cole Balay, AccessComputing Team Member
I was able to attend at least one session for each of the four session periods. Per my interest in CSEd, I attended many education sessions. At these presentations, I appreciated the valuable opportunities to connect the current knowledge I have about CSEd (and broadening participation) to new information.
In addition to new information, I discovered and created new connections with faculty and students. I noted many faculty who work in my discipline of interest, and who I might contact when applying to grad school. But particularly important to me was networking with current and recent PhD students, who could share perspective and current insight on their program experience. I connected with students at NJIT, UW, UMBC, University of Florida, and Emory. At the poster session dinner, we all sat together, and I enjoyed a table-full of PhD students eager to answer my wide array of questions. A notable experience I had was with Shaniah Reece from Emory, who walked me by all the posters and explained to me how a Doctoral Consortium works.
Finally, I appreciated the theme of Accessibility in CS highlighting presentations and discussions on widening participation for the disabled community in CS. The entirety of session 11A on the second day felt as if it was made specifically for me, as a disabled student seeking grad school and conferences. My story does not often feel so valid and relevant to large populations. It is not only of personal interest for me to learn about disabled students in CS, but as I advertise myself to be interested in education accessibility for all, I commit to truly including all by learning about accommodations and widening my perspective for my consideration of future work, curriculums, programs, and research.
In conclusion, I have found such value in this conference, and hold so much appreciation for your funding of my RESPECT experience. After attending SIGCSE in February, I was certain that this conference would be another impactful opportunity I could not pass up; however, I was concerned about funding. The support you have offered removed a serious barrier to my education and academic career. I thank you not only for supporting me, but for all students you support in getting to conferences. We all thank you. For us, this makes all the difference.
