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Ladies Learning Code: Why the #YYJ Chapter is Great

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I am lucky to live in Victoria, BC and work at UVIC. I have met some wonderful people on and off campus. I have been involved with Ladies Learning Code Victoria (#yyj) Chapter as a volunteer, learner, and sponsor. And, here I am again at an event. This weekend’s event is a Python session. We have approximately 40 learners here and a mentor at each pod.

The energy in the room is amazing. My favorite part, though, is the introduction of the mentors. Every mentor is either affiliated with UVIC or is a local business worker/owner who wants to see more women working as a programmer or developer. It’s quite breathtaking to meet the students involved with the Women in Computer Science and Engineering members. The learners vary in age from 15 – retired.

This time the session was held in one of our Active Learning Classrooms. The room is set up with the instructor in the center, and the students in pods. The set up requires lots of interaction between the students, and the instructor. I am happy to share that the attendees were blown away with the room. I do not feel smug, but rather like I am seeing the consequences of months of hard work by the leadership of the local Ladies Learning Code chapter, and the Classroom Infrastructure Committee at UVIC. OK, I take it back, maybe I feel just a little smug. Smug, and very happy.

Whenever I can see some active learning taking place, I feel a sense of pride. And, here I am witnessing the magic take place, as one of our undergrads leads the session. Yes, she’s teaching the session and doing an amazing job. Ladies Learning Code does a great job connecting our students and the local community.

 

Girls Learning Code: Scratching at the Surface 

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This last weekend I volunteered at one of the local Ladies Learning Code events. I helped by doing social media for the Girls Learning Code event at St. Margaret’s, an all girls school in Victoria, BC. The “code” for the day was learning Scratch, and the girls had fun designing games. The school had donated space including the use of their labs, a large area for the girls to eat their lunches, and then the presentation of the games. We ended up using a computer lab at the Junior School and another lab next door at the Senior School campus. Thank you to the school! 

The day was fun and the girls demonsrated their wicked skills with Scratch. Some of the girls were familiar with Scratch, and others were new to it. Regardless, they had fun. The labs were warm with the hum of the computers and the din of conversation among the girls and the mentors roving around to assist. The mentors donated the bulk of their day to help. And, I want to speak to the mentors. 

The vast bulk of the mentors were women, and virtually all of them shared one message. They wished that Girls Learning Code existed when they were young, and that we need more women in the tech industry. One mentor noted that she has never worked on a project team with another woman. And, another mentor noted that in some of her Computer Science courses she is the only woman or one of three in a class of 50. Yeah, re-read those sentences. It’s 2015. We still have work to do. 

A few of the mentors were men and they echoed the comment. “We need more women and girls coding.” The mentors were great and coached the girls through the day. But, I really hope that the girls were left with the messages that it’s cool to like Math, Games, Computers, and Science. The mentors were introduced to the parents, and again the mentors shared their stories. I am sure that some of the girls and parents left the event with a sense of optimism. I hope to see these girls at more of the Girls Learning Code events. 

I used #llcyyj on Instagram, Vine, and Periscope. The Twitter handle is @llcvictoria. 

   

Getting Involved in Your Community

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This post is both for students and non-students. More then five years ago, I resolved (without it being a New Year’s Resolution) to get more involved in my community more so. I am already engaged on campus and within some networks in Political Science and Higher Education. What I wanted to do was expand these networks and friendships off campus in the city where I reside.  To this end, I started to attend more community events and actively networked more off campus.

It is too easy to get lazy and keep on going to the same old haunts and seeing the same people (some wonderful). At first I must admit, it was a little strange. Would I meet people? Would it be fun? Yes, to answer both questions. I have networked, relaxed, and socialized and in the process have met many people. Some of the connections have proved fruitful for former students—yes, I have helped students get internships or jobs. But, it has also been great for me. I feel like I was getting comfortable and not exploring the city and making Victoria my home.

Specific to students, getting involved on campus and networking is not only fun, but can also help you with your future career goals. And, you will meet your peers who are going through the same things that you are. You might even make some life-long friendships. As an undergraduate advisor, I want students to feel like they are part of the campus community. Why? Students are apt to be more successful and happier during their studies. Seriously. Check out the clubs and course unions. And, for community members–come onto campus and network with faculty, staff, and students.

I include a photo below of the wonderful Hudson Mack, who invited me to attend his class at Royal Roads. Thank you to Hudson and his great students! Hudson took the photo.

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Girls Learning Code Day

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Today my youngest daughter and one of her friends attended Girls Learning Code Day activities at UVIC. It was a packed day of coding in the Engineering Computer Science Labs for the kids and their parents. The crowed was packed with girls, a few boys, and lots of parents. The girls and their parents stormed the Ivory Tower or in this case the tower of the Engineering wing. This day probably saw the most girls and women in the building than at any other time.

There were numerous mentors at the event, too. The mentors were a good mix of UVIC graduate students, alum, and local mentors from tech companies or other businesses in Victoria. The Girls Learning Code Day took place across Canada and was sponsored by MasterCard. I would like to thanks Ladies Learning Code national, the Victoria Chapter, Erin Athene, and Linley Faulkner for all of their hard work in putting together the successful event.

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Ladies Learning Code

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I was lucky enough to attend the annual Ladies Learning Code event. I met the local coordinator a few months back and am thankful that I attended a Tectoria event in the Spring and got on the mailing list for this group. I ended up playing email tag with a few people, but ultimately all those points of contact led to establishing some successful connections. Today’s event took place throughout Canada. Some 700 plus women and men were coding or learning how to code. I t was amazing to see how so many of the mentors have an affiliation with UVIC.  A big thank you to the larger organization: Ladies Learning to  Code and to all the wonderful volunteers. Thank you to Fort Tectoria for the space and the support for today’s event. The image included is from Ladies Learning Code. Thank you! 
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Mexican Food & BlogHer

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I’m in San Jose, Calif for BlogHer14 and while here I am having full days of networking, learning, and Mexican food. Yes, Mexican food. As an American ExPat living in Victoria, BC, Canada, it is really hard to get good Mexican food consistently. I joke that I miss my family, the weather, and Mexican food. And, on the occasional day in Victoria the order might vary. I should add that I am Latina and I grew up on Mexican food at home. I know Mexican food and it is my favorite–it reminds me of home.

I have been to Mezcal, Mexicali Grill, and Super Taqueria. The photos are from each restaurant in the order noted. I have had a great trip thus far and look forward to more conversation, learning, and Mexican food.
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Word Camp Victoria 2013

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I attended my third Word Camp in Victoria AKA #yyj this past weekend. It was another great event, where I learned lots about Word Press and the various functions of the platform. More importantly though, I got to see some of my students in action, as we sat on a panel together about blogging. I’m so impressed with these students and others and just want to send positive energy out there to: Renae Sinclair, Adrienne Sanders, and Alannah James. I’ve placed them in the order of our presentations. Way to go!

If you haven’t had the opportunity to attend a Word Camp, I would suggest that you do or look for a Word Press Meet up in your region. It’s good to bounce ideas off of others and to also hear about the plug ins that are tested or the favorites of the more advanced users. I’m really lucky to live in a tech saturated city–another name for Victoria is Tectoria. And, this May Social Media Camp will take place. Check it out!

Rona Manynard Rocking it at Breathe Now

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I’m sharing my almost live tweets about Rona Maynard’s keynote today at #Breatheyyj. @ronamaynard Wow, great preso. Any keynote coach would say: Brava! #Breatheyyj Thinking about her comments about resentment. She grew up in alcoholic household, but on the outside everything looked fine. Maynard knew that she wanted more–a different type of life. Trailblazer.

She was part of the generation who was trying to do it all. Remember she was the Editor in Chief of Chatelaine. But, it was hard to do it all–hard to keep balance. Lots of head nodding in the room, as she shared these points. We think we have to be Super Women. This can be an issue in a hostile work environment. We will burnout. We will get sick or worse. Maynard left one job and worked at home and slipped into a depression. “With trembling fingers I made the call to a women’s mental health clinic.” I’m glad that she’s sharing this story with us today. We need to get rid of the stigma about mental illness, as it is so common.

“Say no to unreasonable demands.” Rona Maynard

This is really hard to do. People expect us to say yes. Oh, this is important to me right now. I’ve recently said no to a few things and stood my ground much to the surprise of those around me. I said no to protect myself and my integrity and refused to get bullied. Back to Maynard, I really want to read her book, My Mother’s Daughter: A Memoir. I want to read her life story, as I think I have something to learn from her.

“Saying no is not about fighting with people.” Rona Maynard

Her preso is reminding me that I’m not alone in parenting a teen. You do have to pick your battles. You do have to call a truce on certain issues with your teen. Boom. Thinking maybe a family meeting is in order to chat about things. Maynard’s speech is making me think of so many things.

“40 is a magical age for women.” Rona Maynard

Maynard shared that her articles led women to write her letters. She was motivating them. It’s refreshing to hear that she made a difference in so many women’s lives. I am impressed. What a perfect fit for @BreatheNow. I am so proud of the team of co-founders, sponsors, and volunteers in making this possible. This is our little slice of community building in Victoria #yyj.

“My gift is building community through stories…” Rona Maynard

I really love her comments about resentment. Makes me think of the resentment olympics. It’s important to protect your time, so that you don’t feel resentful. You need to keep the well-spring full. We need certain mantras to stay happy. It’s work. Can’t say, “Accio balance. Accio happiness.” You have to work on it and keep your boundaries in order to do it. And, I will be honest, I do keep the positive emails and when I need to–I will review them. It’s grounding after a tough day.

Thank you, Rona for giving me food for thought.

Remembering to Breathe

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On Saturday, March 17th I had the distinct pleasure of participating in a Mom panel on Real Parenting with Shirley Broback and two of the three co-founders and organizers of Breathe Now. The interview was focused on parenting tweens and teens and what this means for us. It was a great interview and I was reminded how almost two years ago we decided that we wanted to organize a conference for women.

The idea was that we have all attended work-related conferences, mom conferences, and social media conferences, but we did not feel like there was a conference dedicated to the three in such a way that also dealt with issues unique to women. And, as I noted on Real Parenting the fateful meeting at Murchie’s was when we came up with the name, Breathe Now. We wanted to remind women that it’s important to inhale, exhale and breathe. We need to be nice to one another and more importantly to ourselves.

My involvement with Breathe Now has offered me opportunity to get to know the other three co-founders well. And, with that I’ve also met so many wonderful people in the local community. We see the conference as part of our project to build connections for women. We run the gamut, though, with a former government worker–turned personal chef, communications consultant, a hotel industry executive, and an academic. What we share with this conference is an acknowledgement of the importance of women supporting one another. There is so much knowledge that we can share with one another–but the only way this will be done is by taking the time to talk and chat.

Breathe Now offers a weekend of events that is sure to inspire. We are proud that Rona Maynard is our opening keynote and Bif Naked is our closing keynote. The array of our panels reminds women that it is OK to take time for yourself. We are also setting up our slate of panels to look at the theme of It’s OK.  For instance, it’s OK to take time out for yourself, it’s OK to be successful…this theme is important, as women often apologize for taking time out for themselves or for their success.

I’ll end saying that I hope to see you at the conference on April 14 and 15 2012 at the beautiful University of Victoria!

One Take Away from #WCV12

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This will be the first of a few blog posts about Word Camp Victoria 2012 ( #wcv12 ). This was my second Word Camp in Victoria and I have to say that I definitely enjoyed this camp more than the last one. And, no, it’s not because #UVIC was a site sponsor! I got more out of the sessions and part of this is that I chose more wisely and frankly that I have fiddled more with Word Press. Yes, Word Camp is a Word Press Blogging conference, er camp for users or those who are interested in the platform.

This post is going to speak to Craig Spence’s presentation, “Why WordPress works so well as a Dynamic Creative Writing Environment.” Spence is a writer and the way he interacts with the Word Press platform is informed by his writing philosophy. I liked that he shared the Cosmic Chicken, his speculative writing series that allows readers to add to the story. And, did I mention that he was such an honest, humble presenter? He hooked me in and made me want to listen to his presentation. Sure, I live tweeted too, but I also have about a page of notes from his presentation.

What really struck me is that he views his writing on line as similar to his offline writing and this is something that I am trying to explain to my students, who are completing blogging assignments. I’ve said that their 1000 word post is like a paper in terms of coherency and organization, but the platform allows them to add images and video and make the post theirs via their analysis and the look of the blog. They have more opportunity for creativity and Spence’s talk reminded me of this point.