Overview

2022 was a great year for me, filled with exciting achievements in my college journey. I participated in Google Summer of Code, hosted my first Twitter Space, gave a lecture on Open Source and GSoC at college, and connected with over 150 followers on Twitter. Let me take you through my experiences and what I learned along the way. Let's Goooo!!!

Highlights of the year

Rejection

My year started with a dose of rejection when I applied for the GitHub Campus Expert program but was ultimately not accepted. I am planning to apply again this year.

Google Summer of Code 2022

In December 2021, I had decided that I will apply for Google Summer of Code 2022. Then I started contributing to the Joplin organization which is an Open Source note-taking app. Initially, I found it intimidating to contribute to a large codebase. But eventually, by solving small bugs and being more active in the community, I got comfortable.

I made several contributions before GSoC along with 2 plugins for the app. I especially enjoyed hearing from plugin users who said the plugin was helpful to them. Then I wrote a proposal and applied from the portal. I was feeling confident that I will get selected.

I was over the moon when I saw my name listed among the selected contributors when the results were announced at midnight. Likewise, I spent the next 3 months working on my project in TypeScript, ReactJS and Jest. My mentor and maintainers were super supportive and gave me really helpful advices along the way. It was really a great experience and I learned a lot through the journey.

GSoC Work Summary: https://gist.github.com/mak2002/d9d537e9a61390427ca37976895ce215

Hosting my first Twitter Space

After successfully completing my GSoC project, I received many DMs and decided to host my first Twitter Space along with 2 co-hosts who were also GSoC contributors. We shared our journeys and provided valuable tips to the audience. I look forward to hosting more Twitter spaces in 2023.

Giving a Lecture at College

I got the opportunity to give a talk at my College about Open Source and Google Summer of Code. I really enjoyed preparing the content for the talk and engaging with the developer community in our college. The audience was highly engaged, and their questions reflected their genuine interest in the topic. It was a truly rewarding experience

150+ Followers on Twitter

In 2022, I took a proactive approach to engage with the tech community on Twitter. My focus was on sharing my knowledge and insights about getting started in open source.

My efforts paid off as I made valuable connections with many experienced tech enthusiasts and professionals, who not only provided me with new insights but also helped me expand my network. The result of my efforts was an impressive growth in my following, which now stands at over 150 individuals who are interested in my work and follow my journey in the tech industry.

Conclusion

In 2022, I made great strides in my tech journey. Looking ahead to 2023, I plan to continue my work in open source and contribute to the Joplin community. Additionally, I aim to write more technical blogs. I hope you enjoyed reading this, and please let me know if you have any feedback.

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mayank-bondre-11a522223/