Everything you need to know about the Women Techmakers Scholars Program!

Do you ever feel like the situation of women in this country isn’t good enough? Do you feel like a minority in your class? Did you ever get discriminated because of your gender? Do you want to see more women in your field?
Have you ever done anything in your life to improve the situation for yourself and others? Do you keep on looking for more ways to help women around you? Do you want to be a role model ?
Well if you do then this scholars program is for you!

The applications for the Women Techmakers Scholars Program – formerly the Google Anita Borg Memorial Scholarship Program – opened recently, so I thought that there couldn’t be a better time to share this blog with you guys.

ABOUT THE SCHOLARS PROGRAM:

1. The Women Techmakers scholarships is an academic scholarship, awarded based on the strength of each candidate’s impact on diversity, demonstrated leadership and academic background.
2. This is 𝗻𝗼𝘁 𝗮 𝗽𝗼𝘀𝘁 𝗴𝗿𝗮𝗱 𝘀𝗰𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗮𝗿𝘀𝗵𝗶𝗽. It is a one time scholarship where you get a cash prize.
3. You will get to attend a retreat at a Google office (ALL EXPENSE PAID BY GOOGLE), where you will meet your fellow scholars and a bunch of Googlers from all around the world.
4. You will become a part of an online network where you can stay in touch will all the feloow scholars from all around the glob and share resources and ideas.

TO BE ELIGIBLE YOU SHOULD:

• be a female
• be enrolled at an accredited university till the next year. For those who are from an university which follows the semester/trimester system, there is no way of showing the enrolment of the next academic year right? Back when I got the scholarship, I graduated after I came back from the retreat. If you have recently graduated or will be graduating before the retreat, you should query them regarding your eligibility before applying.
• be enrolled in any degree, Bachelor’s, Master’s or PhD.
• have a strong academic record.
• be studying computer science, computer engineering, or a closely related technical field
• have leadership quality and demonstrate passion for increasing the involvement of women in computer science.

Go visit their website to know more about the program.

Now that you know what Women Techmakers Scholars Program is about. Let me tell you everything you need to know to apply.

Wait a minute! 

I know what you are thinking. You are having doubts aren’t you?
You are thinking that you aren’t capable of getting the scholarship.
You are thinking “Oh! I haven’t done anything remarkable in my life, I probably shouldn’t even apply”

I had these exact same thoughts when I applied back in 2015. I had all these doubts and you know what happened? I didn’t get the scholarship! You know why? Because my doubts clouded my thoughts and that reflected on my application. You really don’t want that to happen do you?
In 2017, I applied again. And this time, I applied with all my heart. It’s not like I knew I would get the scholarship, in fact I never even thought I would get the scholarship, but I blocked all my negative thoughts, stopped underestimating myself and gave my 100%.

And guess what, I did get the scholarship that year!

How you feel about yourself and what you think about you is what makes all the difference! So go for it girl! 

Now let’s get started

APPLYING TO THE PROGRAM:

There are 2 stages of the application.

1. The online application
2. The interview (if your application gets shortlisted)

The Online Application :

You will need to provide:

1. General background information
2. CV/Resume
3. Academic transcripts from your current and prior institutions. You can apply for and unofficial transcripts at your university. If your university doesn’t provide you with one, they probably provide you with a grade sheet. All you need to do is make a pdf file, which will contain your grade sheet along with the CGPA/GPA/Grade calculation and academic calendar of your institution, and submit that file as an unofficial transcript.
4. Responses to essay questions

Regarding the 5th point “Responses to essay questions”, they will ask you things like why you choose your major, what you future plans are, challenges you have faced as a woman, activities you are involved in, how you demonstrate leadership, etc. They will provide clear details of the things they want to know from you, so read the essay questions very carefully.
They want someone who is willing to help others, someone who has a leadership quality to have an impact on their community. That doesn’t necessarily mean that you have already done something massive in your life. Small things that you have been doing might be something they were looking for.

What you SHOULD include in your application:

• Show your passion. Be very clear about everything you include.
• Elaborate the points. Don’t say thing like “I love Computer Science”, tell them exactly what you find interesting, what made you fall in love with it.
• Include those small contributions. It could be as minor as something you did to help your classmates in some way. Did it have an impact on a bunch of people? Then obviously include it.
• Give them numbers. Let them know how many people you have helped.
• Submit your application before the deadline!

Things that you SHOULD NOT do: 

• Don’t lie in you application. Honesty is the best policy. They will ask you everything from your essay and CV during the interview. 
• Don’t exaggerate. Don’t include things that you haven’t done. 

Interview :

So now the wait begins. I have a first hand experience of how excruciating the wait can be. I used to spend my time reading blogs and watching videos of the retreat. I literally have read every single blog about the program and watched every single video on YouTube.
The application deadline was in May and the results were supposed to come out in July, so I thought it would be a very long wait but I received an unexpected email just within a month.

Congratulations! You’ve been selected as a short-listed candidate for the 2017 Women Techmakers Scholars Program.

The next step is a 30 minute phone interview with a Googler……….

They wanted to know what time I was available and all that. So I provided them with the information they asked for, within few days, they emailed me the confirmed date and time for the interview.

My interview experience:

I went through my CV and the essays to revise everything that I had written. I pointed out things that were important like the technical projects that I had included in my CV and elaborated them. That is how I prepared myself.

Finally on that day of the interview, I was sitting in my room, with the phone in my hand, way ahead of the interview time. I was mentally preparing myself to not get nervous. And then the phone rang. I answered. 

Unfortunately, the voice of the Googler kept breaking up and I could not hear her properly, so I mustered the courage to tell her about the connection problem. Surprisingly she was okay with it, she hung up and called me back from another number within few minutes. And so the interview began.

She started by asking why I applied to the scholars program. Then asked me details about the technical projects that I had mentioned in my CV. Then there were other things in my essays that I only mentioned briefly and couldn’t elaborate much due to word limit. She wanted me to elaborate on those.

After few minutes, I completely forgot that I was giving an interview because the interview had turned into a conversation. I ended up sharing a lot of other things that I didn’t mention in my essays.

Towards the end of the interview she asked me if I had any questions. I took that opportunity and asked her some questions too.

RECEIVING AN OFFER:

Almost 2 weeks after the interview I received an email from them where they asked me to fill up some form, where I had to provide some general information about me.

Then there was another few weeks of wait. It was around 7pm here in Bangladesh when I received THE CALL from Google office.

I was selected ! I literally became speechless at that moment. I was so happy! The Googler congratulated me and talked to me on the phone for a while. She requested me to attend the retreat at Google Office at Seoul, Korea.

And then the real fun began!

All the scholars were acquainted through an email thread, where we introduced ourselves and talked to each other for the first time. The updating “life event” and “sending friend request” on Facebook began.

PREPARING FOR THE RETREAT:

Visa & Flight :

VISA – It’s time to apply for the visa. Make sure you fill out the visa application form properly and submit all the necessary documents. You will need a visa letter and Google will provide it. Visa applications might take a month depending on the country you are applying to, so apply early! Your visa fee will be reimbursed later after the retreat.

FLIGHT – The flights will be booked by Google as well. They will obviously ask you for your preference of the flight departure and arrival time. Make sure you have done your research on how long it will take to reach the destination country and fill out the forms accordingly. Keep it mind that flights can be delayed, it’s better if you take an early flight and reach there a day before the retreat rather than arriving late. If there are other scholars from your country, you can ask to be put on the same flight as well.

 

Packing :

So now that you are done with applying for the visa and the flight booking will be done for you, you need to think of packing.

• Research on the weather of the country during the time of your stay. Pack clothes accordingly. Make sure you pack comfy shoes because you will have to walk a lot.
• Don’t pack too many things. Only pack the essentials. The hotels provide soaps, body wash, shampoo, conditioners; so don’t bother carrying these for just 4 days.
• Leave room for SWAGS(gifts), you will get a lot of them!
• If this is your first time travelling on plane, let me tell you that there are certain rules of packing that you will have to follow.  You bag needs to be of a certain dimension and weight. Check the airlines website to learn about the airport security and the things that you can or cannot carry. There are 2 kinds of bags, they are :
  • Carry on bag – the bag that you can take with you inside the plane.
  • Check in bag  – the bag that you need to check in before you board the plane and you will not be able to access the bag till you have reached your destination airport.
• Carrying a laptop is completely optional. You will be aware of all the sessions way before the retreat, so you will know if you will require the laptop for any session or not. If you don’t need it, don’t bother carrying it, you probably won’t even get the time to use the laptop.

THE GOOGLE’S RETREAT!!

Arrival :

After you arrive at the airport you will have to take a bus/taxi to your hotel. The costs will be reimbursed later. Googlers will provide you with the information beforehand. In some countries, you can book the transport from the airport to the hotel online, but I will advice you not to do that. Because your flight might get delayed and you will end up missing the transport and buying the tickets again.

If you are arriving a day early, it’s your time to connect with other early arriving  fellow scholars and spend some extra time with them before the retreat begins. You can also plan to go on a day tour with them (that’s what I did).

Highlights :

If I start talking about the retreat, this blog is probably never going to end. So I will just list some highlights and attach some photos.

1. Each of us shared a room with another scholar. This allowed us to spend a lot of time with a completely new person and connect with them.
2. Our retreat started with a dinner and some karaoke.
3. Every morning we would go to the Google office and have breakfast and start our day dancing to a K-Pop song.
4. We used to have several sessions everyday. Each of them was AMAZING!
5. We got to spent the whole day with Googlers.
6. On the final day of our retreat, we were put together in different group sent on a Scavenger Hunt. Each of the activities had certain points. At the end of the day, the winning group was announced and several prizes were given to them.
7. And of course SWAGS SWAGS SWAGS !!!

 

 

AFTER COMING BACK HOME:

Right after you come back, you will have to fill up an expense form. This is where you provided the extra expenses you might have made during the retreat or before the retreat( visa fee, transport cost from airport to hotel, etc. ). However, if you are unable to provide them with the respective receipts, won’t be able to reimburse the expense, so make sure you have all the receipts.

So what prize do you actually bring back home?

Other than bringing back one of the world’s most prestigious scholarships, you will also bring back memories, new experiences and a whole bunch of new friends. You bring back a stronger, and more confident self. Most importantly you will bring back the desire to empower more women around you to achieve their goals.

EXTRAS:

You can join my Facebook group where I frequently post updates and suggestions regarding this scholarship and similar scholarship opportunities. This is the link to the group.
If you don’t want to join the Facebook group but have questions related to the WTM scholarship, you can send me your questions using this Google form. I will get back to you as soon as I can.