I attended Ohio Celebration of Women in Computing (OCWiC) with other UC students as a male ally. After attending GHC last year, I was more inspired to take a part in the programs on my campus. OCWiC is a small conference that happens every other year at Sawmill Creek Resort near Sandusky Ohio. It was a great way to network and meet other male allies and women in computer science and engineering.

I did not know that the event was happening until a few weeks before but was still able to sign up to attend with my university. I volunteered to drive all my some of my classmates from UC to the event. This was quite the drive but well worth the trip. While at the event, I got to hear about many research projects that women in engineering were working on. I also got to meet many people who run programs in Ohio like someone from Microsoft TEALS program. The TEALS program was specifically focused on community outreach and relates to the Bearcat Coders program that I participate in at UC. In addition to finding out about great programs, I also had the opportunity to listen to great speakers.

I had fun, was able to meet many new people, and learned a lot.