San Francisco first professional experience

Thursday morning, everyone was very excited, to visit a great company as Oracle.

I tried to be as formal as possible, and got in the bus , the great adventure was going to start.

On the way I've seen the salesforce.com big buildings on San Mateo, and I felt impressed, I knew it was a big company but did not realized this big.

Anyway, we arrived to Oracle it was a shiny day, we found programs and breakfast ready for everyone, the meeting room was just amazing.

Heather Ramsey, gave the welcome speech, and officially welcomed us into the TechWomen program, explained how 78 ladies has been chosen over 1800 applicants. And in a minute everyone felt proud to be here.

Then we had an exercise and this was the most amazing moment. It was the icebreaker, everyone of us had to get a partner , ask them some personal question to learn about their life and experience.

I heard stories, I heard feelings, and I just loved it, in every techwomen around my table I felt inspired, I felt passion and a great confidence.

We continued with the logistics overview, we understood that on Monday, Algeria is going to be the first country to be presented, I felt like I was going to the Olympic Games and I will represent my country, it s an amazing feeling, yaaaaaaay

Then there was a man in the room, Eric is a safety specialist, he explained to us that some places are less safe then others, that the way we behave in the street is just te way people can see us so be confident and avoid eye contact with people you don't know.

Then, Barbara Williams came, she was full of confidence, her voice was loud , clear, and persuasive, she introduced the barb list, my favorite one was life begins outside of your comfort zone, am in SF because I wanted to take the challenge to try something new.

Next speaker, was Lynn witham, she introduced the cultural insights , she gave us some information about USA and life there, being a trainer, and looking for some opportunities to go for soft skills training, I enjoyed the way she presented, she was very calm and quiet but clear.

I for you're want to give a try for cross cultural training experience.

Then we had the world cafe facilitated, different groups going through different tables to share and discuss differents topics.

Discuss the country situation and its impact on you, discuss what do you want to bring in your country, and how do you feel in USA?, it was the perfect moment to share experiences with the ladies, to realize that we are all going through same situations, same feelings.

Finally, she arrived, Nandini ramani, a beautiful lady, with a great presence on stage, she told us about her life and how's he arrived at Oracle, how her grandmother, her role model influenced her and helped her to be who she is now.

I loved when she said, someone told me, you must speak up, since then I've never shut up. She used easy words, and made us believe that anyone of us can be in her shoes.

It was a great day, it was overwhelming feelings, it was an AWESOME experience.

I gained confidence, I gained new friends , and for sure a lof of memories.

Thanks TW2013