Attending ONCWIC

It’s been a while since I updated this blog, and as I have just had a GREAT weekend meeting and listening to some of the most exceptional women in computing, I thought it might be time for a blog update.

This weekend, I attended ONCWIC, the Ontario Celebration of Women in Computing, modeled after the famous Grace Hopper Celebration that takes place in the States every year. ONCWIC is a regional conference that brings together Ontarian women in computing, providing inspiring talks, workshops, and a space for them to meet, learn and have fun! This year’s conference was held at the Waterloo University. It was my first time attending (and first time in the city of Waterloo!).

Divide and conquer your education

I was perusing one of the blogs I usually frequent today, and I came across this interesting “theory” on education that the author calls “The Cake Story”. It goes like this:

What you are about to learn is like a cake. A giant cake. It’s a knowledge cake. And you are given a tiny tiny spoon, for massive massive cake. Now here comes the best part. Somebody keeps slapping on stuff on the cake, new layers, more decoration (all eatable of course). It keeps getting bigger and bigger, faster and faster than you could eat it. How do you go about eating this giant cake? A spoonful at the time, right? But the way you eat it will define the whole experience, you just don’t know it.

Say there are two people, with a tiny spoon each. The first person takes a bit of the knowledge cake. This person is giddy, exited, about what has just been learned. The taste and effect is savored, motion is remembered. He or she shares this with everybody: “wow- look at what I can [do]. I can [eat] all this of this bite, and I will know all that when I take all those bites”.

The second person takes bite. Looks at the hole after the bite, then looks at the rest of the cake. Another layer is slapped on. The hole seems even smaller. The cake even bigger. The person thinks: “I know so little, and there is so much to learn. It’s impossible.”

… The second person [is] more likely to do worse and fail. The cake would win.

(some missing words filled in by me).

I think it’s an interesting way of approaching the success/failure rate of education based on the person’s attitude. No doubt, there is some truth to this. If you set out thinking “I am going to fail”, you will self-sabotage at some point and end up failing. Remember all those people telling you to “put out positive thoughts to the universe”? Well, they’re not completely off. Your attitude directly or indirectly affects the way you approach anything in life – be a problem, a relationship, or a new experience. If you set out with a “can do” attitude, you are less likely to get hung up on wonder “Can I do this???” and more likely to just push ahead and start searching for the solution. If you are constantly worried about your ability to do something, you will most likely never get to the point where you actually try doing whatever it is that you want to accomplish. As the quote goes “90% of success is just showing up”.

What Is Bad Writing?

BAD WRITING from Morris Hill Pictures on Vimeo.

What Is Bad Writing? | Thought Catalog.

The movie Bad Writing, a well-reviewed documentary about the craft/art/thing that is writing, is streaming for free on Vimeo. The doc includes interviews with such well-known authors as George Saunders, Margaret Atwood, and David Sedaris. Vernon Lott, the filmmaker, was inspired to make the documentary when he came across some poems from his younger days, when he wanted to be a writer.

Looking forward to watching this! Margaret Atwood is one of my favourite authors (and a fellow Victoria College alum!).