Attending SC21 in St. Louis was my first experience at a conference. SC21 was this year’s International Conference for High Performance Computing (HPC), Networking, Storage, and Analysis. As a Master’s student considering a PhD, attending a conference relevant to my field of interest was a great motivation and inspiration. I attended several presentations that broadened my perspectives and gave me insights into different research areas within the field. It was especially exciting to see the diverse application areas of HPC.

One of the most valuable aspects of the conference was meeting friendly and encouraging people in the HPC community from all over the world. I am a part of the HPC-Lab at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology, and we had a booth in the exhibition area at the conference. This was a great way to meet other attendees who stopped by to ask questions about our work. I enjoyed talking to people who have been in the field for a long time and other first-time attendees.

I want to thank ACM-W for supporting my attendance at SC21. Being able to travel was a privilege after spending so many months at home during the pandemic, and SC21 and St. Louis were great destinations. I am already looking forward to the next conference!