How Udacity-Google India Challenge Scholarship boosted my passion!
Hello World!
This is Nishank Samant an Information Technology Graduate from Mumbai University. My story is a bit weird because I was actually thinking to become a doctor after my high school but as I was not well at studies and remembering too many theoretical concepts was not my cup of 🍵. So, as an ideal student I choose Engineering. I also had a love for computers from my school time. I still remember the turtle program of older computers in my school where we had to input the commands for moving the turtle and creating a shape. From that day the love for computers ameliorated.
Journey with Udacity begins!
In sophomore year of Engineering, I was totally bored by the way of teaching which was adapted as most of the people were not even interested (because of the obvious teaching methods)in the subject and most of the syllabus was based on the theoretical concepts. The spark in this subject is evolved through making it more practical as it can be.
So I started self-learning and was astonished by the way the concepts were introduced and practically shown through online tutorials.This is how I came to know about Udacity platform and the journey started thereafter as I created my first Android app through the Android Basics course provided by Udacity. I browsed many similar courses and got to learn the basics.I fell in love with the simplicity of the course and the format of teaching that Google and Udacity advocated which made my concepts clear about how things actually work.
After completing my graduation I was just surfing on Udacity finding about any new course to look for and came across this scholarship program which had deadline to submit the form next day.So, may be I was lucky enough to grab such an opportunity and did the needful.
Good News!
On 7th February 2018 I received a mail from Udacity stating about my acceptance in Scholarships program.I had never expected about this opportunity and had a feeling of cloud nine on receiving Google-Udacity Scholarship for Android Intermediate Developer Track.
Though mostly I refrain from posting things on Facebook that day I don’t know what happened but I posted that badge with the #GoogleUdacityScholars and Udacity India .I was totally excited to join this program from 14th of Feb and was charmed by joining a huge community and interacting with fellow developers from all over India.
Scholarship Community
I was used to a normal video oriented learning and had never expected of a course having such a vibrant and responsive community. Being a part of this community it boosted my confidence to interact with other developers and solve issues. This was my first experience to learn in a fast-paced environment which helped me learn new libraries, concepts, and rectify mistakes. I made new friends on the go using Slack and Udacity Forums.
The image looks damn heroic 😆 however it reminds me of the community or so called professional network with like minded developers standing out to help each other.
Mumbai Meetup
The meetup held in Mumbai on 1st April 2018 was my first ever tech meetup. At first i was kind of nervous as this was something naive for me but as we all met we started discussing each others story.
We shared our interests what projects we had developed earlier and life experiences as well .Though the strength was comparatively less but we took an initiative for other people to join and participate in the next meetup to build this network.This meetup was one of the phenomenal part for me in this program
Opportunity Strikes!
Thinking of Google I/O 2018, it’s the most awaited event for me and getting a chance to attend such an event is once in a lifetime opportunity . I always have been a fan of Google developers and developer-advocates who made the process of learning and introducing to new technologies facile and getting a chance for attending such a lively event would be 🆒.
Talking About My Dream 😑
Apart, from talking about this program I am a fan of Google as how constantly they innovate and launch new products making users life simple.I have a dream of visiting the Google Mountain View, California Office and working with Google as a Software developer to help contribute for making the world a better place.I know that dream seems huge 😅 but I would like to quote a saying which i truly believe in.
All our dreams can come true, if we have the courage to pursue them.
-Walt Disney
That’s all about my ordinary story and I am really thankful for Udacity and Google for giving me such an opportunity to scale-up my knowledge, skills and providing a helpful community.
