Computer Science Department
LAUREN NGUYEN AND TRUC NGUYEN WIN SCHOLARSHIPS TO THE TAPIA CONFERENCE IN WASHINGTON DC (FALL 2022)
Two of our women computer science majors, Lauren Nguyen and Truc Nguyen, won scholarships to the Tapia Conference in Washington, DC, September 7-10, 2022. The conference is the largest computing-related conference for minorities in the United States. It is sponsored by Computer Science's professional organization ACM and by the Center for Minorities and People with Disabilities in IT.
Lauren: "It was the first time that I’d ever seen so many CS-related people from different backgrounds gather in one place. The great diverse representation at the conference makes me feel empowered and inspired. The conference connected me with people from across the country, whom I would have never met without attending Tapia. I made friends with both undergraduate and graduate students from other schools and had the chance to speak with recruiters and professionals in the industry. As a senior in college, the best part for me was the career fair, where I got to learn and ask about opportunities for jobs and internships from different companies. I was able to score an on-site interview with a company, something that I know might have taken several weeks or months had it not been for the conference. It was such a meaningful, unique experience that I’ll never forget. I didn’t know about the conference until my junior year, so I’d love to spread the word and share my experience with everyone at DePauw, so that they can apply for a scholarship and go to Tapia in person next year."
Truc: "Thanks to the WiCS community at DePauw, I heard about the Tapia Scholarship. Luckily, I was given the chance to spend 3 days in Washington D.C. I was looking forward to meeting representatives from multiple companies and universities and learning about their work. Most of my time at the conference was spent networking. I was able to network with students from various institutions and their stories in the computing field. I went to the career fair and networked with multiple recruiters. Besides some offers for on-site interviews, a Senior Software Engineer at a Fintech start-up also offered to be my mentor to help me with personal projects, and interviews and advance a career path in general. I did not believe in small talk or networking until I constantly met new people and learned interesting information about computing at the conference. I highly recommend everyone to apply for the Tapia Conference next year."
