Before I was able to attend the ACM Symposium on Applied Perception, I had no idea what pursuing a graduate degree in Computer Science would be like. But when I attended the conference, I realized not only the cool subjects I would be able to study if I went to graduate school in computer science, but also the amazing opportunities higher education carries in general. The people I met were intelligent, experienced individuals conducting research at the forefront of technology. A large portion of this group was made up of females, which was particularly exciting for me. And even better, all of these people chose to spend their life researching what I had this past summer: virtual reality. When I presented my poster, they celebrated, questioned, and humbled me. It was a truly unforgettable experience, and I will always be thankful to the ACM-W scholarship for providing me with this opportunity to discover not only more about an exciting ?eld, but myself as well.