Google Code in — An extraordinary journey

Google Code-in is a contest to introduce pre-university students (ages 13–17) to open source software development. This year was the largest with 25 orgs, 710 mentors, and over 3500 students completing an astounding 16,437 tasks. You can read more about Google Code in here.

I shared on social media that I have been chosen as the mentor to represent Systers on the Google Code-in Grand Prize Winners Trip at google office alongside the winners , got a lot of questions & So , I am writing this to answer everything at one place.

How did I get this opportunity?

25th October, 2017 : I read an announcement in Systers mailing list that they are looking for active volunteer mentors to make this program a success. I so wanted to apply & within one hour, my biggest enemy, the so called imposter syndrome was there to stop me as usual.

29th October, 2017 : Last day to apply. By chance I read somewhere that

The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried . Inspired by it , I fought with my enemy and I applied for GCI with absolute assurance that I won’t be selected. LOL…

First week November : Received an e-mail from Maybellin Burgos (May) — Program Manager for Systers Open Source products that I have to fill a WhenIsGood form for an interview call & I chose the most convenient time : 1:00 am IST. (Others were like 3:00 am or 1:30 am, Ican’t even dare to speak at that time lol.)

10th November, D-day : Overwhelmed by imposter syndrome, I didn’t read the agenda properly and went directly into direct message on Syters-slack channel to ask May about my confusion. She is really welcoming & responded with information. PS : If you want to learn from my mistakes, don’t go into direct messaging ever. Always try to ask your doubts in public channels/forums. This is first unsaid(sometimes mentioned rule of Open Source contribution.

16th November,2017 : My morning started with a mail Welcome to GCI! (QA Team) .

yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy!

Alot of things started happening , one leading to the other. And, I had my end term examination as well to do with GCI. Ohhh, wait : Did I tell you, I was selected for QA team and I misunderstood, QA as Question Answer team for the first time. LOL…

Being a novice in writing tests for Android, I started learning everything (leaving the fear of failing in exams) so that I gain enough knowledge to mentor students and yep, I did it within 3 days! Even I can’t believe my potential in these special situations. Lesson : Don’t underestimate yourself, you can do it, you might just not know it!

Later on, we had a mentor orientation session. I got to know about my fellow teammates : Prachi and Kamakshi (believe me, they are very welcoming in nature).

What I did during GCI ?

I drafted many QA tasks following a format suggested by May. Posted it in a private channel (only accessible to mentors) to publish on GCI portal and here we go, my first task was published! I can surely say that I was more excited for GCI than any student :p

My first task was claimed by a student within 1 hour and was abandoned within the next 5 mins :p Imposter Syndrome is back! You did it all wrong. You have messed it up. You are finished.

Luckily, I wasn’t doing it wrong. The student found it difficult to complete the claimed task. I discussed it in the next session and May again guided me to make the task a little more descriptive and easy to understand for new comers.

What did I receive in return ?

1. A wonderful experience to guide school students. I was amazed to see students writing unit test in Android. I wasn’t smart enough to know about open source in my school. Lots of learning.
2. Enhanced communication skills. I have seen people judging communication with English. Don’t! I am good at communication but I am very poor in English. Don’t let English overpower you. If you are not a native English speaker, it’s not your fault!
3. Got to know so many wonderful & like minded people.
4. A certificate of Appreciation.
5. Swags : Every mentor gets a GCI Tshirt (assuming by the e-mail received)
6. A trip to Google office, California! *Can’t wait*

Yayyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyy, AGAIN

Lesson :

1. Don’t let your fears control you. NEVER! Listen to your friends. They know your potential more than you. (Abhay - my college friend always pushes me to go for the opportunities).
2. If you have doubts that they might be silly/stupid/obvious, don’t keep them inside your mind. Research. In today’s generation, Google is God’s gift seriously! Utilize it to get the information. If it still doesn’t help, ASK. Avoid private messages to mentors. Use public channels and forums.
3. Contribute to open source : It will help you a lot! You will learn in every small step. It might be overwheming in the initial days. But if you ask a question, someone will guide you. There is no spoon-feeding but someone will always help you + Your Github profile gets better.
4. If you have knowledge, share it with community! It can be your college, institute, school and event or even a slack channel. If you won’t help, you are restricting yourself from growing more.

At last, I would like to express my gratitude to everyone who has helped in this journey. Your support helped me to fight the Imposter Syndrome. I would like to thank my college friends (Abhay, Jivjyot, Lalit, Jaggu) for gifting me the Book Lean In: Women, Work, and the Will to Lead on my birthday. This journey might be a small achievement for many,but it means a lot to me.

Thank you Google, Open source, Systers and everyone related… You all are AWESOME! Do share your story in comments, clap if you like, share and let me know about your Imposter Syndrome!

Remember the keyline : The master has failed more times than the beginner has even tried