On February 11, WICS hosted a study session. Since it was midterms week, WICS decided it would be beneficial for members to collaborate and study together. Upperclassmen helped the underclassmen out with work they didn’t understand while snacking ice cream and cookies. About over 10 people showed up and had a great time eating ice cream and studying together!
WICS First General Meeting and Mentorship Mixer ’14
Written by: Gurveen Sekhon
On Monday October 6th, WICS held our first general meeting of the year and kicked off the 2014-15 Mentorship Program. We gave a brief overview of what our club is about and introduced this year’s board members. All this information can also be found on our website in case you missed the meeting. There were also prizes given out for the raffle right before the Mentorship Mixer began. There were prizes such as Google blankets, Bags full of swag, T-shirts, a copy World of Warcraft, a Kindle Paperwhite, and much more!
Our Mentorship Program had a really strong kick off this year. A lot of students and mentors came out and got to know each other in groups based on where their interests laid. Make sure to join next year’s Mentorship Program, whether as a mentor or a mentee.
First Annual WICS Games
On Wednesday, October 1st WICS held its first ever WICS Games! Over 40 students and 7 teams participated in our games to be the first team to ever win WICS Games. Each team worked together along with a mentor for each team to solve rounds of questions with varying level of difficulty to accumulate points to win. Subway sandwiches were served for dinner to munch on while solving problems! Everyone that came to our meeting received really cool Google swag!
Make sure to come out to our annual WICS Games and start the year by meeting many people and having fun!
Studying and Interview Help from WICS
On Thursday April 24th and May 8th, WICS hosted a Study Session that also consisted of interview help in order to prepare for upcoming midterms and career fairs.
Study groups were formed by classes, there were tutors that came by to help anyone who was struggling with specific topics.
At the same time, for those who came by for interview help, WICS prepared common tech interview questions for them to solve. Interview experience and questions were shared amongst those who have been in one before.WICS hopes that those who came got to learn something new and useful towards their classes and finding a job.
WICS Attends CWIC SoCal!
WICS members got the opportunity to attend the Celebration of Women in Computing in Southern California (CWIC-SoCal) Conference held on April 5th and 6th. WICS provided attendees reimbursement for signup fees as well as free transportation!
The event kicked off with a welcoming ceremony that consisted of talks from inspirational women in the computing field. The talks were held by a broad scope of women all united by the core concept of computing. The backgrounds of these women ranged from industry to research. In fact, Gloria Mark, a professor from the Informatics department of UCI also held a talk of her research of multitasking.
The WICS members learned about grad school, what these speakers do, and about women in the tech field in general. There was also a Q/A panel with company representatives as well as a mentorship panel. At the end of the first day, CWIC-SoCal also held an Academic/Career Fair with quite a few company booths, swag, and networking opportunities. That night ended with a Lego Challenge and a game of CS jeopardy. The winners of the lego competition, 5 groups of 5, all received $25 Amazon gift cards, congrats to one of the WICS’s teams that won!
All in all, it was a very exciting weekend that consisted of fun and networking with other women students and professionals in computing. Next year, WICS will be hosting init(Together) once again, stay tuned and don’t miss out!
Studying with WICS
Over 20 people came on Monday, February 10th to join WICS for a study session. Topics such as ICS 45C, ICS 6B, and many other classes were being covered by some students that were willing to help teach those in need of help. Popcorn and soda were provided by WICS to help replenish some lost brain cells in the process. Even though it was a study session, there were still some socializing and de-stressing involved.
WICS would like to thank all those that came to help others in their studying and hope that everyone did well on their midterms!
Food and Fun with WICS
On Monday, February 3rd, over 40 people came to de-stress at the potluck with all the ICS clubs over some delicious food and fun boardgames! There was a variety of food such as sushi, buffalo wild wings, dumplings, curry, chicken alfredo, bacon siracha cookies, and cake pops! Besides food, there were also groups of people playing Apples to Apples, Cards Against Humanity, and Uno! It was a fun and stress-free night full of some nice home-made food and all of your fellow ICS friends; we will be having more potlucks later in the school year, stay tuned if you want to come join the fun next time!
Movie Night and Boardgames with WICS
Monday, January 27th, WICS hosted a movie night for over 20 people that came to de-stress from all the midterms they’ve had/about to have! There was popcorn, pizza, and snacks provided while The Princess Bride was playing. A group of people were also enjoying a fun game of Monopoly! It was a nice relaxing night that helped keep people’s minds off of homework and exams; WICS will be having more social events like this in the future!
First WICS Meeting of Winter ’14
Thursday, January 10, 2014. Are you tired of going to parties and thinking to yourself, “Uggh, what a sausage fest? Like seriously, enough with the testosterone! Where my ladies at?” FEAR NOT, women in computer science, because on this unassuming Thursday night, 40+ beautiful ladies who are pursuing a career in an emerging field that offers excellent job stability gathered to throw the most epic of ragers. There was pizza; there was soda; there were animal crackers, board games, and there was even a powerpoint presentation! Dancing Queen WICS’s President Angela Li teased us with events to come. Projects committee chairwomen announced this quarter’s Android App Development extravaganza, and someone even ALMOST built a hotel on Boardwalk in the first forty minutes of Monopoly. If you made the mistake of not attending, don’t be sad. There will be another! Check Facebook for updates about WICS! Happy Week 1!
Week 8: Thanksgiving Potluck
Wednesday, November 20th, WICS co-hosted a Potluck with other ICS clubs on campus. The movie of choice: Iron Man 3, was being played on the projector as over 40 attendees came to have some fun and take a break from school! People got to eat some delicious food and chat with members from other ICS clubs.