Incredible Experiences Happened after Udacity & Google Gave Me Courage to Share My Story

For some, sharing comes easily and naturally, but for many others this is not the case. It can take a lot of confidence and courage to share progress, work, thoughts, feelings, or ideas with the public. I have often found this a struggle in many areas of my life.

The Story Begins With A Story

Recently, I mustered up a great deal of courage in order to share my story about a Google Android scholarship with Udacity, which I started earlier this year. I did this through writing an article and sharing it here on Medium. My goal was just to be able to give anyone who happened to stumble upon the article (which I didn’t think would be very many) hope that the technology world can present exciting pathways, despite a person’s age or location.

The Android Scholarship

Udacity has partnered with many leading technology companies to create useful and engaging courses. The Android scholarship that I applied for and received has provided me access to a really brilliant program. The program is taught by a combination of Google and Udacity experts who specialise in Android development. This is reassuring, as you know your instructors are passionate about what they are teaching. It’s also incredibly inspiring to be taught about Google technology by someone who actually works there and has firsthand experience.

Throughout the scholarship program there have been lessons aimed at encouraging participants to share questions, projects, and progress, and share thoughts on topics. As part of the scholarship there is a dedicated forum and Slack channel to provide a place to share. Slowly but surely, by taking action on the encouraging prompts from Udacity to share my thoughts and work, Udacity has helped me to overcome my lack of confidence. The kind and positive attitude from the Udacity scholarship mentors and scholarship leaders has helped me to see there is very little to fear when it comes to sharing. This has been further supported by feeling accepted amongst fellow scholarship participants. If it weren’t for this encouraging, supportive atmosphere provided by Udacity, I would not have developed the courage needed to share my previously-mentioned story.

Now that you have a better understanding of the role Udacity and Google play in my story so far, here is where things get even more incredible.

Having An Impact

My story went much further than I ever imagined it could. I was so surprised and amazed by the impact that my story had on readers of all different skill levels and backgrounds. To some your thoughts and experiences may not be significant, but to others they could be powerful. There’s no way to gauge what impact you might have, so don’t think your voice doesn’t matter — it does.

When discovering my story, readers also felt encouraged to contact me. For example, I had someone contact me who has been working as an Android developer for a few years. They shared information, tips and project ideas with me that are helping me to get job ready as an Android developer. This communication has been extremely beneficial — I feel I now have a plan of action to focus on when my scholarship studies come to an end.

Google Comes To Me!

As amazing as all the above has been, more incredible things were yet to come! Somehow, Google heard about and read my story. They were so inspired by my story that they wanted to feature it at a Google event, which led to a team being flown out to interview and film me! It was such a wonderful opportunity to meet a team from Google, but also to be able to share my story and experiences in another way, and with more people.

I hope that my story keeps on inspiring, and I hope that this one can offer you some inspiration too. Never underestimate yourself. The next project you share could lead to an incredible opportunity, the next story you share could turn someone’s life around!

From Udacity and Google, I have learned more than just technical skills; I have learned to believe in myself, and achieve things I never thought were possible. I wrote previously that they changed my life — this is even more true today than it was before.