Halloween? Out. SHPE National? In!
This year the SHPE National Convention took place in Phoenix, Arizona, starting officially on the spookiest day of the year, Halloween! SHPE National is the largest technical and career conference for Hispanics in STEM the country and it’s always a blast going with so many people from my chapter. This was my second time at the convention and there was so much to look forward to!
First, there was all the tech talks. There are so many industry professionals that go to this conference and so very many leading in their fields. The convention gives this professionals a platform to speak on the work that they are doing and how it is changing the engineering space as a whole. I went to many of these talks and got to ask a lot of questions about the state of a certain technology or where an industry might be headed. My favorite talks were on the direction and development 5G wireless communication and the problems big data poses.
Secondly, there was also the professional aspect of the conference. Although I had already signed an offer for an internship during the summer, I still have a lot of opportunities to network with tons of latinx professionals, so I’ve got tons of people to talk to when it comes to full-time roles after graduation.
And finally, of course, I have to talk about my SHPE familia! As part of the executive board for my chapter I was directly involved in making sure our chapter has a presence at nationals. This year, our chapter funded 40 people to go to nationals, one of our largest numbers yet! Since I was taking more a passive attitude towards recruiting and professional development, I was still on the career floor helping my fellow members prepare for their interviews and getting them pumped.
This year was a great one for our chapter in general that we even earned an award as chapter of the year for our region! SHPE national is always a pleasure to attend and I’m more than excited for next year!
