“GoogleFUSE really revealed to me the potential of CS. It showed me the opportunities out there, the kinds of great and innovative things you can do with CS, and the joy of working with creative and talented people from all over the world.”
—Sally Guo
Last week Sally Guo, a first-year computer science student, is thrilled to be part of fifty students from North America to participate in an all-expense-paid, three-day retreat hosted by Google at its office in New York City. This first-ever Google FUSE, is aimed at building a network of aspiring computer scientists, talented rising sophomores mostly from underrepresented backgrounds in CS.
The retreat started with a welcoming dinner and bonding activities at the Westin Hotel in Times Square, NYC. The second day of the retreat began with a delicious breakfast at the Google Office, followed by a tech talk by an engineering director of Google Maps and a panel given by eight different Google engineers. After a spectacular lunch at the Hemispheres restaurant on the ninth floor of Google, the fifty Fusers were split into eight project groups, each led by a Google engineer, and into creating new ideas and designing web and mobile ready applications. The bustling afternoon then ended with presentations from select project groups, followed by dinner and bowling. The third and final day of the retreat began with a panel by speakers from the University of Pennsylvania about the importance of building networks in university. The panel was followed by more project presentations, more bonding and networking, lunch at Hemispheres, and finally the unwanted good-byes.
It was a great learning experience, seeing the Google Office and connecting with rising sophomores all over North America all of whom had very different experiences. It was also great seeing the Ping Pong tournaments, the comfy couches, the big rubber balls, and the free ice-cream in the Google Office. Not to mention, you get free stuff too: a Google backpack, a Google Rubik’s cube, a book written by the Google founders themselves!
The application process was beyond simple. All you needed to do was to go to www.google.com/jobs and submit a form, which asked for your transcripts, several short answer questions, and two essays. There was no application fee. Just a click of a button and an experience of a lifetime is all yours.
Apart from the trip, Sally Guo has also received a generous $1000 scholarship from Google.
