Houston, here we come! The largest gathering of women technologists is set to take place October 19 -21, and we're looking forward to participating in the excitement, camaraderie, and knowledge building. This is one of the most important conferences in tech, and our enthusiasm for it only deepens each year.

We are thrilled to introduce some of our amazing women in tech who will represent Facebook at Grace Hopper this year. Meet a few of them and find out what inspired each of them to pursue a career in tech in their own words.

In the 1960s, my parents came to America from Hong Kong with little to no money to attend college. My father became an electrical engineer, working on nuclear submarines. All of his seven siblings had at least one son, while he had two daughters. I remember when I was about six years old my mom said that we should be happy that dad was satisfied with two girls; I found that comment baffling. He never let my sister and me think we couldn't do everything that a boy could do. When I went to my first physics class in college, I was surprised to see that I was only one of a handful of women in a lecture hall that could have fit my high school graduating class. My dad never mentioned that so few women studied engineering. My sister and I eventually both graduated college with engineering degrees, and my dad never doubted we could do it. When my father was in hospice a few years ago, one of the last conversations I had with him was how proud he was of me and all I achieved.

I first took a computer science class my junior year of high school in 1981-82. I was inspired by video games. I wanted to know how to make my own. In particular, I was enamored with Pac-Man and eventually Ms. Pac-Man. While I ultimately never created a single video game, I fell in love with the creative process. I learned that I could take an idea I had and with some patience and creativity turn it into reality. The limit was my imagination and ability. And I knew I could improve my ability over time. Before I had even bought my first car, I had bought a computer, an Apple ][ because it brought me more freedom and power than a car ever could. To this day I still love the idea that with a computer the opportunities and possibilities are endless.

I remember the day I consciously decided I was going to study computer science. It was easy, and made total sense. All my life I thought I was going to be a doctor or a dentist. After high school and a month before starting college I was in front of my computer, probably playing a game and I just knew I did not want to be a doctor. I wanted to study something that would allow me to create something like what I was playing and more. I didn’t know what that entailed but I knew I was completely capable of doing it. I had my first computer when I was about 8; my mom and dad were both computer science majors, so I do remember us booting the computer into DOS with 5 ¼ disks and typing basic commands to run our games, which is what I mainly used it for. My favorite one was “Where in the world is Carmen Sandiego?” I loved it, and would spend hours traveling from place to place in the game and learning about different countries and cultures, putting clues together to figure out where she was. I guess in hindsight it makes complete sense what I do; I enjoy figuring things out and solving problems and the computer is my tool of choice.

When I was growing up in the early days of the public Internet, computers gave me access to communication and learning in unprecedented ways. In contrast to life in the physical world where I was limited in what I could do by money or other resources, on the computer I realized that almost anything was possible if I could learn enough and be creative enough. Since those early days of the Internet, technology has become interwoven into nearly every aspect of our lives. Although I was initially reluctant to work in the tech industry, I came to realize that it is the highest leverage method for me to use my creativity and my drive to make change in the world.

I grew up around computers. As a child, I used to watch my dad as he'd build computers, first shopping for the best components, then putting them together like an elaborate puzzle. I used to spend so much time on the computer, playing games and surfing the Internet, that one of my household nicknames was "computerjunkie". However, it never really occurred to me to consider computer science as a profession -- I didn't even know what coding was. All those years, the computer had still remained a magical black box to me -- I knew the different components needed to put it together, but had no idea what went on beyond that. I realized, after taking an introductory class to Python, and building a very rudimentary version of Tetris, that this black box was something that empowered me to build anything, and I wanted to learn as much as I could about it.

Attending Grace Hopper too? Stop by to say hello at Facebook's career fair booth on the exhibit floor. We can't wait to meet you! We'll have team members across Facebook, Instagram, Oculus, and WhatsApp — come have some fun with us and learn about our products, innovations, and career opportunities. From software engineers and data scientists, to 3D artists and designers, we're looking for people across the colorful spectrum of innovation and technology to join us on our mission to help make the world more open and connected.