What Bits of Good Taught Me
I felt lost at the start of my second year. I realized I hadn’t done much; not that I didn’t try, but I hadn’t fallen in love with any of the organizations or clubs that I had joined. This, combined with the fact that I wasn’t particularly interested in my classes either, caused me to question whether I should stay in my major. I had confided in one of my friends that I wanted to switch my major to industrial engineering, but he asked me, “Why?”. That was a fair question. I know I’m a people person and I enjoy talking to people, so naturally you can see that sitting at the computer all day to program was not my idea of fun. I thought by switching my major, I could start over and forge a new path, but before I got the chance, I found Bits of Good. This became my beacon of hope for finding something I appreciated in computer science.
Finding a Community
Something that was special about Bits of Good was the sense of community that I hadn’t found in other organizations before. When I first joined as a dev bootcamper, I only expected to pick up web development skills; little did I know that I would be finding this community. Shortly after joining, I found tremendous amounts of support from the executive board, who welcomed me in and were eager to share their own experiences and knowledge. I started to feel more comfortable, but old worries still lingered in the back of my mind. For most software developers, Bits of Good in itself is a dream come true: the intersection between social good and programming. Logically, I should have been thrilled, but for some reason, I still didn’t feel like I belonged. That changed when I started working on my first team project, MedShare. I was nervous to say the least; I was not at all confident in applying what I learned in bootcamp, but in my team, I found a group of talented and supportive individuals. Over the course of the semester, I became more sure of myself as a software developer but more importantly, I developed meaningful friendships that surpassed the 6:30 meetings on Tuesday’s. I looked forward to going to general meetings and seeing my friends after a long day. It was rewarding to work on something that had a lasting impact. From dev bootcamp last fall to now, I can say that I’ve truly met some of my best friends through Bits of Good and made valuable connections with others that helped me along the way.
Breaking Tech’s Bubble
I’ve noticed that Tech students often get caught up in the meaningless things that may have defined them in high school: achieving the 4.0 GPA, juggling 10 different commitments, and becoming the president of at least one of those. I tried to do the same, and it was miserable. As CS majors, we are taught how to problem solve and work harder than we ever have before, but in doing that, we sometimes miss the bigger picture. I remember someone telling me freshman year, “This will be the only time in your life that you’re surrounded by so many brilliant minds that are willing to help you.” and that couldn’t be more true. When I joined Bits of Good, I soaked up everything I could. I learned about front end development and product management, but more than that, I got to leverage those skills to help three different nonprofits. It was no longer menial work that ended as soon as the semester did; we made an impact that transcended our team and would go onto help hundreds of people.
So, what did Bits of Good teach me?
Beyond the priceless degree that you get from the Georgia Institute of Technology, realize that there’s more. This is the time to explore and find what you love to do. There are so many opportunities here for you to pursue, and there’s always someone else that shares your passions. You just have to be willing to be vulnerable; to go out there and try. Even if things don’t work out, you will have learned something about yourself, and that’s even more valuable to you moving forward. And the best part is, you’re still in college. You don’t have to have everything figured out, because I guarantee the person you’re sitting next to doesn’t either. A year ago, I would’ve never imagined to be sitting in the place I am today. Bits of Good taught me to believe in myself, and to go out there and take every opportunity. To fall down sometimes and get back up, because others believe in you too, and there’s so many people willing to help you. So go out there and be awesome.
A special shoutout to Mukthi Kaup for making this article possible and to all of my project teams, Charlie Ye, Adib, Sho, and Ben Holmes for getting me this far.
