IEEE EAB Awards ceremony

Last year, I was nominated for the IEEE Educational Activities Board Award for Meritorious Achievement in Informal Education.

And I received news about my acceptance via email on the very day that I arrived in Hobart, Tasmania after a grueling journey, to speak at PyCon Australia.   I was a bit stunned since I really wasn't expecting it - I figured I was just a small factor in a rather large field of impressive candidates.  Boy, was I thrilled, scared and humbled.

With Professors Lightner and Ramesh - what an honor!

Well, I got to go to the the Award ceremony and I found out the day before that I had to give a 2-3 minute speech when I was on stage.  Eek.

So, on the morning of the ceremony, I was sitting my hotel room, pulling out my hair trying to figure out what to say.  I had never been in a position where I would be in front of 400 people from all parts of the world and with backgrounds ranging from professors at Ivy League colleges, industry leaders to students.  And I was expected to say something pithy.

In the end, I decided, I just want to say why I started CodeChix and how I hope the organization inspires and helps women pursue technical careers in industry and academia.  And that took up the 3 min that were allotted.