The Harmful Myth of "This Isn’t for Me" – IEEE/ACM CHASE 2025 Conference on Connected Health
My first academic conference shattered a myth, and I finally understood why representation isn’t just a buzzword. The Wake-Up Call I recently attended the IEEE/ACM CHASE 2025 conference on connected health. As someone from Africa, I used to imagine presenters at these events as superhuman geniuses – aliens operating on a level I could never reach. Their papers seemed like cryptic manuscripts; their presence felt untouchable. But after three days immersed in this world, my naivety was peeled away like old paint. The Revelation The room was filled with brilliant minds – 80% Asian, 20% White, and a scattering of others. Including me, there were nine Black attendees among 140 participants. As I listened to presentations, something struck me: Their work was identical to what I’d done in my graduate classes. The same formula: Pick a topic (like we do for projects). Find a dataset (hello, Kaggle!). Identify a problem (standard research 101). Propose a soluti...