My GHC 2023 Experience
I had a lot of firsts in September — my first time visiting Florida, my first time attending GHC, and my first in-person conference talk! It was an honor to be chosen to speak at a conference whose ethos means so much to me. At GHC 2023 in Orlando, Aqsa Malik and I ran a session titled “Java 17 and Beyond: Learning New Java Features with Code Katas!” We focused on four new Java features for this level-up lab: records, record patterns, pattern matching for switch, and sealed classes. From these topics, we developed a code kata in the BNY Mellon Code Katas repository — the coffee shop kata! These coding exercises focus on comparing Java 8 to Java 17+! The kata is now publicly available here.
Our talk had ~200 attendees and was an incredible learning experience for me. I’ve always been very shy and reserved, and if you told me a few years ago I’d ever volunteer to speak at a conference, I wouldn’t believe you! What changed? Why did I apply to speak at GHC? Over the past few years, I’ve gone outside my comfort zone a lot — moving to an entirely new country post-graduation probably being the biggest! While all of this was scary and uncomfortable, this is where growth happens. Growth in your career, growth as a person. I’m not going to say that I love public speaking now, but it went better than I expected, and I’d do it again! In the past, especially when I was an insecure college student, I was overly concerned with other people’s perceptions of me. But fear of that should never hold you back — where does that get you? There’s nothing embarrassing about trying and failing. Trying takes courage, and it’s the only way you can move forward. I owe a lot to my mentor and former manager Donald Raab as well, for encouraging and hyping me up when I need it most. 😊
Since I was attending GHC as a speaker with BNY Mellon, my focus was primarily on preparing for my own session and attending other sessions! 😁 The keynote was definitely a highlight for me, as well as ‘Getting Started in Game Design for Mixed Reality’ by Sisilia Sinaga and Denise Mendez, BSEE from Microsoft!💻 I did spend time in the expo hall, but as a casual attendee, rather than for the purpose of finding a job — I still want to acknowledge other people’s unpleasant experiences this year. You can read more detailed, first-hand accounts here and here. Overall, I had an amazing time at GHC and hope to attend (and maybe speak) again in 2024!
