My Apple Story — A Study in Perseverance
by Pawanpreet Singh, iOS Developer
Don’t let the noise of others’ opinions drown out your own inner voice. And most importantly, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition. — Steve Jobs, 2005
I became a part of LimeTray back in July, 2016 as an iOS Developer, and from my second month I have been managing all the iOS Apps as a stand-alone developer.
The story begins with the Apple Worldwide Developers Conference (WWDC), which is a conference held annually in California by Apple Inc. The conference acts as a medium to showcase the new Apple Software and Technologies for Software Developers. Attendees can participate in hands-on labs with Apple engineers and in in-depth sessions covering a wide range of topics. Tickets for WWDC are priced $1,599 and are distributed through a lottery system, so even if you are ready to pay all the money, still it will be your luck that will take you to WWDC. The criteria of participating in the contest is to submit an App which should be in consonance with their specifications and top 350 students are selected. Scholarships are awarded to each of the selected students, along with an invite to WWDC by providing them the ticket (some of them also get Travel Assistance).
In 2015, there were the same guidelines as in the past years’ contest. They asked for an “App on Student”, featuring the interests, hobbies, education etc. I started working on the app for the contest, made an app on Data Structures and submitted it. One day before the result, while I was reading the guidelines again, I read the line carefully and found they were actually asking for an “App on Yourself” - I had interpreted it as an app showing my interest. I misinterpreted the term and made an app on a subject that I liked the most. I already knew by then, that I am not going to get it!
The next year, WWDC 2016 was the last chance for me to apply as a student. I started learning Swift Language that is used to develop iOS App from scratch and learned the concepts throughly. I started an “App about Myself” two weeks before the actual guidelines were out. But the guidelines came with a twist this time - the instruction was to develop any App and teams of Developers were also allowed to participate. My confidence took a hit but I didn’t lose all hope yet. I started improving that app to the highest level I possibly could. On 10th May, 5:59am, having stayed up the whole night, I got a mail that I won the scholarship. It was a “Dream come True” moment for me. I did it!
Hard work always pays you back.
Along with the $1,599 ticket, I got my whole trip (stay and air fares) sponsored by Apple. So it was a jam-packed week starting from 12th June to 17th June. There was a special Orientation in which we were told many Inner details/stories about Apple and later on we had a great time with Tim Cook,CEO. We had a great chat session with all the fellow scholarship winners. WWDC kick-started with the Keynote and I was right there in the front row and again had a chat with Tim Cook about his Indian trip, Eddy Cue, Phil Schiller, Jeff Williams and Craig. We had sessions & labs where we interacted with Apple Engineers and got the oppurtunity to ask them all our questions. I met a lot of people including the creator of Swift Language, Chris Lattner (Now VP of Autopilot Software at Tesla) and I even shared a table with a couple of guys and later found out that one of them was roommate of former U.S President, Mr. Barack Obama and the other was the VP of Viacom.
By the end of the trip I made many new friends and we all took a tour of Lyft, Apple, Google Headquarters. The best memory of that incredible trip is the Autograph of Tim Cook and Chris Lattner on my Phone and Laptop. This experience has prompted me to learn more, improve my skill set and keep on refining my journey.
Back in 2012, I was gifted a MacBook Pro by my sister and it was like a dream laptop for me. Since then my only motivation was to be worthy of it. I started learning iOS by pursing online courses from YouTube and going through docs, as till date, there is no formal coaching available in India. Five years later, after the WWDC, that motivation continues to drive me in my work here at LimeTray. The knowledge I had gained after attending Labs at WWDC is helping me a lot while working at LimeTray. Meanwhile, working at LimeTray has taught me essential things like teamwork, elevated productivity, requisite attitude towards the work, making pixel perfect UI. Before joining LimeTray, I had no experience of a formal working environment, but the culture at LimeTray is enhancing my skills every day.
The learning never ends.
