BEING A PIONEER GDSC LEAD ON MY CAMPUS
WHERE IT STARTED
Me being me. I love tech communities, hackathons, and events. It was during the first covid wave we had to go back home. I was bored with not much work to do, so I started registering for mlh hackathons and other amazing online hackathons and events. I attended the hackathon learned many new amazing things and met amazing people. After the hackathon we were sent an email and when I followed one of the links in the email I saw a DSC lead application platform. Didn’t know much about DSC then. I did more research on it and learned that it's a community program. I love participating in tech communities now I had a chance to become a leader in a tech community. I didn’t give it a second thought I applied for the program.
WHAT IS GDSC?
You may be asking yourself what is this I am talking about let's look deep into it 😊.GDSCs (Google Developer Student Clubs) are university-based community groups for students interested in Google developer technologies. Students from all undergraduate or graduate programs with an interest in growing as a developer are welcome. By joining a GDSC, students grow their knowledge in a peer-to-peer learning environment and build solutions for local businesses and their communities.
APPLICATION PROCESS
Let's hop on my application process experience. well, I filled out an application form. Which requested my details, my experience, and for me to record a video.After completing my application form. It took a while, but then I received an email inviting me for an interview. This motivated me .” I remember running outside where my dad who is my biggest mentor and supporter to show him the email”. I booked a slot for an interview that same day. Now you are asking yourself how you can apply 🤔visit the site below to apply for GDSC lead https://developers.google.com/community/dsc/leads
INTERVIEW
The interview day reached I was so nervous. It was around 9.00 am. I joined the interview using a meet link that I was sent when I booked an interview slot. The interview took about an hour or so. It was over and I had to wait for the results. It took months and I was so impatient checked my email more regularly than usual.
THE BIG NEWS
I had left my phone charging. When I went back to check if it had fully charged, I saw an email popup. I was curious, I wanted to know what it was all about. I clicked the popup and started reading the email. The email was to inform me that I was chosen as a GDSC lead for my campus. I was confused, shocked, and happy at the same time. My parents and my little brother were at home and I could not wait to inform them. I accepted the position offer and waited for the way forward.
SUMMIT
I was sent an email about the way forward. I introduced myself to other GDSC leads and Joined a WhatsApp group. I was invited to an online summit which took days we were educated all about GDSC in the summit which took a couple of days. I got to interact with other leads and learned a lot from them.
STARTING A COMMUNITY
Since it was the first GDSC in my school I had to educate my community about GDSC and what it is all about. I formed a team consisting of a Co-lead, a Supervisor who was our department's chair, a Communication team, a Media team, an Organizing team, a Technical team, and a Creativity team. I had my first meeting with the core team where they were trained by Brandon who is also a GDSC lead and me.
WORKING AS A TEAM
The teams were responsible for various tasks:
- The communication team-They was in charge of communication around various school communities
- The technical team-Taught the students about different technologies and helped them where they were stuck
- The creativity team dealt with creativity issues
- The organizing team-They was in charge of events organization
- Media team-Dealt with the club's social media platforms
BENEFITS TO THE COMMUNITY AND STUDENTS
We started educating students about various technologies as a club. We did this online( check events organized here https://twitter.com/CukDsc )due to the Covid-19 situation. Many students got to learn more about web development, mobile development, Artificial Intelligence, and other fields of technology. This kept them engaged while they were at home. Many students also got to learn about working as a team as we worked on different projects together. I also got to improve my communication and leadership skills and learned a lot from the community
OUTCOMES SO FAR
The community is growing. Some of the co-team members got to be leaders in various communities my co-lead became a community manager at code asylums and one of the core-team members became a Microsoft student ambassador. Am glad that the community produced leaders in various communities. We got to collaborate with different tech communities from different parts of Africa and other continents. And the community is going on to teach more about different technologies.
GRADUATION
I could not wait to write about this. It has been a year full of amazing moments. I was sent my certificate of completion and we had our graduation on Wednesday 18th, 2021
The journey is finally over and I have a successor but I will continue to make an impact. During my tenure, I learned lots of stuff that I will keep applying to my daily life.
