In 2022, I invested a lot of my time in solving Data Structures and Algorithms problems and learning Web Development. I also contributed to some open-source projects and took on challenges in these fields. For 2023, my goals were to explore tech communities, improve my DSA skills, learn Full Stack Development, and prepare myself for bigger challenges in the open-source domain. I am delighted to share that I have achieved some of them, and I would like to share some insights about my journey so far. Before I start, I want to thank WeMakeDevs for organizing this amazing blogging challenge, which allows people to reflect on their journey in the middle of the year and plan for the next half accordingly.

MLSA Event

I was selected as a Microsoft Learn Student Ambassador in July 2022, and the knowledge and insights I gained from the program have been truly remarkable. The main reason for joining the program was to improve my communication skills and be part of an amazing community that believes in learning and sharing knowledge. During the application process, what caught my attention was the requirement to organize a workshop on any Microsoft technology to advance to the next milestone, the beta milestone. I knew that merely learning about technology and keeping it to myself wouldn't be enough, so I saw this as a great opportunity to challenge myself. After getting stuck in self-doubt, college exams, and other stuff, I finally hosted my first-ever online workshop on the Azure static web app on 8th January 2023. Despite making some mistakes, I quickly got back on track and taught more than 40 students about Azure static web apps and how to deploy their apps on the platform. That day made me realize that with faith in myself, I can be a good speaker. This was my very first achievement at the start of 2023, and I am proud of myself for taking up this challenge. If you want to know more about how I overcame my fear of speaking in front of people, you can check out this MLSA Blog.

Diversion2k23

The first one and a half years of my college went completely online, and by the time I got settled in a completely different state with a different environment, it was already too late. I did try to attend some offline hackathons in 2022 but due to some unavoidable circumstances, I couldn’t do it so when I came across a LinkedIn post that IEM Kolkata was organizing their hackathon, Diversion 2k23 (an MLH Member event), I wasted no time in applying for it. The hackathon was scheduled to be held from 25 to 26th February 2023. My team and I decided to work on a problem we faced in our daily lives. We researched extensively, identified the project requirements, and started learning the different technologies we needed. For the front end, we used Handlebars.js because none of us were that familiar with React.js at that time. For the backend, we used Express.js, and for the database, we used MongoDB Atlas. Though we couldn't implement some features due to limited time, we received valuable feedback from the mentors. Considering it was our first-ever in-person hackathon, we learned a lot, met amazing people, and made some friends too. So I count this as an achievement.

JSConf’23

I came to know about JSConf’23, the first-ever JavaScript conference in India, through Twitter. The event was going to be held on June 2, 2023, in Bengaluru. I was excited about it, but I was disappointed to see the ticket price and missed the deadline for the ticket scholarship application. Fortunately, some kind people tweeted about the Women Who Code Organization offering scholarships to 100 people for attending JSConf’23. I applied for the scholarship, and to my delight, I was selected to attend JSConf’23. For someone who spends most of their time coding with the JavaScript language, the opportunity to learn and connect with industry professionals at one of the prestigious events was something I didn't expect, but I'm glad I got it. It was one of the best achievements I had in April 2023.

Codess Cafe Open Source Mentorship Program

I came across the Codess Cafe mentorship program in 2022, but unfortunately, I found out about it after the application deadline had passed. Codess Cafe is a pro bono mentorship program that provides a stepping stone for women in tech looking to start with open source. When they opened applications for their 4th Cohort of the Open Source Mentorship program in April, I wasted no time in applying for it. Luckily, I got accepted as a mentee, and throughout the program, we attended insightful sessions from women who are doing great in open source. It was a great learning experience, and these little achievements made May even better.

Women Who Code Mentorship Program 5.0

Women Who Code Delhi has an amazing mentorship program that lasts for 5 weeks and provides a platform for undergraduate women in STEM fields to connect with women leaders in technology. When they opened applications for the 5th cohort of the mentorship program in the 4th week of April, I applied and was glad to be one of the 45 women selected out of 1500+ applicants. This mentorship program was by far the best I have been a part of, and I learned so much from my mentor. Being part of such a big organization was truly fulfilling. If you want to know more about this mentorship, I have written a blog covering all five weeks, which you can check out here: Women Who Code Mentorship Experience.

GSSOC’23

GirlScript Summer of Code holds a special place in my heart since it was the first open-source program I participated in back in 2022. This year, the program was scheduled from June 12 to Aug 12, and I decided to participate again, focusing on MERN stack projects. So far, I have contributed to a variety of projects and learned a lot. I am quite satisfied with the quality of my pull requests, and this was one of my achievements in June.

GDSC LEAD

I always wanted to open a coding club in my college to teach my juniors about the value of communities and collaboration. When I came across the GDSC lead application for 2023, I gave my heart and soul to applying for it. The application process included three questions related to community, leadership, and technology, along with a video submission explaining why I wanted to start a club. My experience with various communities and the knowledge gained through my endeavors helped me answer those questions confidently. I got the interview invite mail on 20th May and because my end sem exams were near, I scheduled the interview for 23rd May. I prepared for the interview in three days through online resources, and it went well. Though the results were delayed, I am happy to share that I got selected as a GDSC Lead for the term 2023 to 2024 and I am finally going to establish the first-ever GDSC club at my college. If you want to learn more about my interview experience, you can check out this blog: GDSC LEAD Interview Experience.

Apart from these events, I also took small steps towards personal growth, such as participating in tech meetups, events, and hackathons. I also worked consistently on practicing Data Structures and Algorithms and am proud to say that I have been solving problems on LeetCode for over 200 days now. I have posted 30+ solutions, gaining 1.2k+ views on the platform. For the next half of this year, I have many things planned, but the most important ones will be to be more disciplined with my overall health and focus more on doing the things I love. That’s all for my blog. Thank you for reading!