Oh, ​The Places You’ll Go!

As I reflect upon my journey as a Ph.D. candidate at North Carolina Agricultural and Technical State University, I have been truly blessed. I never imagined that when I began this program I would be so blessed to be able to travel the world to present my research, meet new colleagues, and create lasting memories. I’ve had the pleasure of attending many conferences to learn and most importantly to present. Here are some of the places I’ve been able to go:

• Nashville, Tennesee (Society of Women Engineers, Recruiter for the NC A&T Department of Computer Science)
• Dayton, Ohio (Presented research at the 2016 Modern Artifical Intelligence and Cognitive Science Conference)
• Charleston, South Carolina (Recruiting event for the NC A&T Department of Computer Science)
• Waikoloa, Hawaii (Presented research at the 2016 International Conference on Computer Communication and Networks)
• Fort Wayne, Indiana (Presented research at the 2017 Modern Artificial Intelligence and Cognitive Science Conference and was a Travel Award Recipient)
• Savannah, Georgia (Presented at the 2017 IEEE Conference on Cognitive and Computational Aspects of Situation Management Conference)
• Tuscon, Arizona (2017 Women in Cyber Security (WiCyS) Travel Award Recipient)
• Orlando, Florida (2017 Grace Hopper Celebration (GHC) Scholar)
• Philadelphia, Pennslyvania (Society of Women Engineers, WE16 Conference, Google Travel Award Recipient)
• San Jose, California (2017 @Scale Conference Facebook Travel Award Recipient)
• San Franciso, California (2018 Grad Cohort for Women by Computing Research Association)
• San Diego, California (2018 Grad Cohort Workshop for Underrepresented Minorities and Persons with Disabilities by Computing Research Association)
• Gainesville, Florida (Recruiting event hosted by the University of Florida Department of Computer & Information Science & Engineering)

There are no words that can truly encompass the grateful heart I have. As this journey nears an end, I will never forget the opportunities afforded to me. If you’ve ever considered doing a Ph.D. program let me be the first to tell you to DO IT! You won’t regret it! Many of these places listed I had never been before and never dreamed I’d be able to visit. Below are a few snippets from my latest trip to San Francisco.