# My unbelievable RubyConf experience!

Being selected fo RubyConf was very exciting. I didn’t know what to expect. I had been to a couple of conferences before, but, I heard that RubyConf noll was excellent, so I was excited.

September 27th I was sent an email from Abigail Phoenix, John Sawyer, and Kinsey Durham, letting me know I was chosen as one of 20 RubyConf Scholar’s and therefore had free admission to RubyConf. I knew another scholar (Lanice Powell) from Career Karma, and about 3-4 other Flatiron students were selected to be scholars, so I was in good company. I had no idea what other great things came with that title. I didn’t know what to expect. I attended a couple of conferences before, but, including GraceHopper, but, I heard that RubyConf was excellent, so I was excited. The email came included a mini overview of how the “Scholar’s” program worked, the link to the slack, a questionnaire needed for the scholar/guide directory, and to help me get matched with a guide, an overview of the cohort system they use, dates to save to my calendar, and instructions on how to secure the ticket, travel logistics, since the scholarship didn’t include travel expenses. However, it was also noted in the email that there may be travel assistance down the road.

Just the idea of getting a guide was extremely exciting! Before that point in development, I had never had a mentor, or had anyone else to show me the ropes, or that I would feel comfortable going to for advice or direction, or just wisdom as it pertains to my development career. I was extremely hopeful and waiting in anticipation of what was about to come. I immediately started using the slack to look at the conversations about what was going on. The first channel I added was called “Weird and Wonderful” (I like weird and wonderful things) The channel was actually to discuss one of the learning tracks which went by the same name. The first person who greeted me was a developer called Christoper Sexton who was discussing with another developer, the weird and wonderful talks that were going to be presented.

Less than 2 weeks later, on October 10th, I found out Christoper Sexton would be my guide!!! I was ecstatic because he had been one of the more active guides in the Slack! The RubyConf Slack was great! In the weeks leading up to the conference, we had a virtual Q&A in one of the channels, All of the scholars and the guides were invited to ask questions about our time at RubyConf and get clarification on many things. All of the guides and cohort leads were extremely helpful. I also met a few Scholars from the Slack when I needed roommates when I was having challenges finding and affordable accommodations. I’m a single mother, going to school full-time, only left with a fraction of time to work, needless to say, it was a challenge to come up with the funds, but, just at the right time Abby said that they received funds and were willing to reimburse up to $500 for the travel expenses for a limited number of Scholars. I took advantage of that and it helped me out a great deal. I don’t think I would have been able to attend without it.

Fast forward to Sunday, November 17. Before I arrived, we introduced ourselves in email and asked a few questions in Slack. We agreed to meet for lunch to further discuss the conference, my intentions, and what I wanted to achieve at the conference. Chris was amazing, he asked me questions, and let me know a lot more about open source and the “Ruby for Good” event he helps support. I also met another developer who went to lunch with us, Colleen. Collen was awesome!!! Since she was a woman and had a non-traditional background, it was easy to relate to her. Later I met Sijia an amazing ex-Groupon developer, who was also a scholar and was open on how she got into developing and gave me some great advice.

Sunday night the Scholars and Guides attended a pre-conference gathering where we picked up our badges and cool T-Shirts, we had a mini orientation, and we got to meet and interact with all the other scholars, guides, cohort leads, and organizers. Some of the other guides offered to answer our questions, interview prep, resume review, help, and support. There was also great food and drinks there. Afterward, we attended a dinner with Neer, Karolina, Charity, George, LaNice, Lachlan, and Elle (the kindest people you’ll ever meet).

On Monday, the official 1st day of the conference, I met Chris in the front row of the auditorium (there were 2 rows of seats reserved for conference and guides), and we listened to the Keynote by the creator of the Ruby programming language, @yukihiro_matz. Matz announced that Ruby 3.0 will be rolled out next year!!
Other notable talks were: @sandimetz was excellent and completely inspired me with her Keynote about how demographic determines your opportunities for success and ultimately has a huge impact on the quality of your life. It was extremely eye-opening. Avdi Grimm’s talk was great, made me think, and gave a completely different perspective on programming as a narrative, and life as it relates to development. @molly_struve ‘s talk was hindsight reflection of a challenging situation at Kenna. It was practical enough for a senior developer, and also easy enough for a beginner to understand.

During the conference, there were company booths set up to market and/or recruit developers. There were also developers always hanging out in the halls, talking, snacking, coding… but mostly talking and catching up with each other. It was great, at any time, I felt as if I could join in the conversation, and actually did a couple of times. I also got a chance to listen to and talk to the incredible André Arko. He dropped so many jewels about programming, open-source, career search and many other topics important to me and another developer.

That night, I had a few events to attend. Luckily, I got invited to the speakers' dinner, hosted by Def Method. It was a very intimate dinner of about 20 participants, it was very exquisite. I talked to Joe Leo, the founder of Def Method and asked him why he hosted such a beautiful dinner. He said he loved Ruby and this conference so much, he just wanted to give back. How awesome is that? Even Matz was there!! Everyone was extremely kind and I didn’t feel out of place at all… we all talked like old friends. After dinner, I stopped into Bold Penguin’s happy hour, to say hi to a few Ruby Friends, and had an option to go to an event with Michael Hartl , or game night. I chose game night! Game night was booked in one of the conference rooms, and it was incredibly fun, funny, and just a great way to meet other developers. I met so many friends that night! it was amazing! Some of the games even involved people getting up and doing challenges in the hall!

Tuesday I mostly attended the talks and worked on my project in the quiet room. RubyConf also paid for our cohort lead André Arko to take us out to lunch. That lunch with our guides Chris, Coraline, Frederick, and Colin, was the most insightful lunch of the trip! We asked so many great questions and everyone was open and honest and very informative about being a developer in today’s world. Immediately following lunch we attended a session with more than 12 professional developers that included a panel discussion and Q&A, Resume Review, job interview tips, we discussed diversity in development, Elevator pitches, and a lot of other topics!! That was the most valuable time I spent at Ruby and appreciate all the developers who contributed. I also gave a lightning talk titled “How Career Karma is changing lives and helping to make tech more diverse.” Even though the talk was about 5 minutes, It was an unbelievable opportunity and I am grateful to RubyConf for providing a beginner like me a voice. On Tuesday night most of the group went to Karaoke! It looked so fun (but I had to work on my project, so I chose to opt-out).
Wednesday was the final day. Other than the talks I mentioned before, I ended up working on my project a little, went to 3 talks, and attended a lunch and gave feedback and suggestions for the next RubyConf. I had nothing negative to say. It was all great!

The RubyConf Scholar’s experience is amazing!!! It was only 3 days, but, I felt like it lasted the whole week because of the wisdom I learned and the #RubyFriends I gained. I couldn't stop smiling. This experience was fantastic The other scholars were remarkable!, The cohort leaders and guides like the ones I mentioned and were extra helpful, kind, welcoming. The organizers Kenzie, Abby, and John were phenomenal!!! The whole experience is unbelievable and action-packed. I told John he should change the hashtag from #RubyFriends to #RubyFam, because, I felt like a became a member of the family.