This happened in the very first week of the coding period of my GSoC. I had things in mind to talk about but they just remained in my mind forever until I received an email that scared me out of my wits and condemned me for not communicating at all for the last ten days. And it was true.
Failing your evaluations just because you are not communicating properly is like not accepting help from the rescuers but waiting for God to come to rescue you while you're drowning.
Communication is the key. How much did you think about the project over the last week? How much effort did you put into thinking about your proposal? What does your research say? They need to know and you need to tell. It becomes difficult when it's remote.
Think of it as an office internship in some company. Not communicating at all means you go to the office but do not speak at all or engage with anyone and just watch around. Isn't this when we start calling the person weird and alien? People have fought for the freedom of speech and now, you're just being shy. Stupid!
Know how to sell yourself. Research well before making your points but if it takes time, then throw a mail to let the community know that you ARE researching and have the following updates to share. They don't know if you were staring at a blank screen all the time or even existed for that while. Play on your strengths and work on your weak points.
The community is not interested in the project code or the small fixes you make but in your approach to solving larger problems. The bigger things are more interesting to you and to the organization. What is it that you bring to the table? What would you do to improve the project beside the small fixes? Think about how you would spend your time this summer.
They are interested both in your technical skill, but also your holistic understanding of the project. Ultimately, they will judge you by the thoughtfulness of your proposal.
GSoC is just another way Google provides you to connect with the people around the world. Review each other's code, your mentor's code each day. Think of it as a score for your personal development. You are not given this opportunity to complete one project and just get done. You failed if that's what you plan to do, even if you pass the official evaluations. You are given a life long opportunity to be a part of a community having members from all around the world and all you did was write five hundred lines of code. Ha!
To quote my mentor, "Communication is the foundation of a team. It is as important as any code you ever write. It is unlikely you will focus on building things only for yourself and success in building with and for others will largely depend on your ability to communicate. Always work at refining your communication skills. They will pay off in many dimensions of your life."
There are absolutely no limits to what someone can do! It's just how badly you want it.
Good luck!
Failing your evaluations just because you are not communicating properly is like not accepting help from the rescuers but waiting for God to come to rescue you while you're drowning.
Communication is the key. How much did you think about the project over the last week? How much effort did you put into thinking about your proposal? What does your research say? They need to know and you need to tell. It becomes difficult when it's remote.
Think of it as an office internship in some company. Not communicating at all means you go to the office but do not speak at all or engage with anyone and just watch around. Isn't this when we start calling the person weird and alien? People have fought for the freedom of speech and now, you're just being shy. Stupid!
Know how to sell yourself. Research well before making your points but if it takes time, then throw a mail to let the community know that you ARE researching and have the following updates to share. They don't know if you were staring at a blank screen all the time or even existed for that while. Play on your strengths and work on your weak points.
The community is not interested in the project code or the small fixes you make but in your approach to solving larger problems. The bigger things are more interesting to you and to the organization. What is it that you bring to the table? What would you do to improve the project beside the small fixes? Think about how you would spend your time this summer.
They are interested both in your technical skill, but also your holistic understanding of the project. Ultimately, they will judge you by the thoughtfulness of your proposal.
GSoC is just another way Google provides you to connect with the people around the world. Review each other's code, your mentor's code each day. Think of it as a score for your personal development. You are not given this opportunity to complete one project and just get done. You failed if that's what you plan to do, even if you pass the official evaluations. You are given a life long opportunity to be a part of a community having members from all around the world and all you did was write five hundred lines of code. Ha!
To quote my mentor, "Communication is the foundation of a team. It is as important as any code you ever write. It is unlikely you will focus on building things only for yourself and success in building with and for others will largely depend on your ability to communicate. Always work at refining your communication skills. They will pay off in many dimensions of your life."
There are absolutely no limits to what someone can do! It's just how badly you want it.
Good luck!
No comments:
Post a Comment