It was around 12:30 am on 28th April 2015 when the Accepted Projects were announced in melange. I had only applied for one project and was really nervous. I quickly went on the home page and typed my name to filter out the list and Yes!!!Yes!!!Yes!!! I was there. The thrill, the joy, the happiness I had never felt before. I took my phone and called my friend who lived with me in the hostel to let her see and ensure myself that I have seen correctly. My hands were shaking with excitement while I dialed her number.
She came to my room with chocolates in her hand, she saw the list and I finally digested that I have been selected. I quickly called up my mom and told her about the results and I could tell from her voice how happy she was. I couldn't sleep that night out of happiness. :)
So, the first step was over and now I was there to begin my work with Systers, an Anita Borg Institute Company for which my project was selected under GSOC 2015. My mentor was finalized after a day or two and it was Shweta, who worked on the same project last year and by coincidence I had spoken with her once before my proposal submission to get an overview of the project and her suggestions really made me write a good proposal. I was very happy to have her as my mentor.
As the bonding period was on, I made my account on the Systers wiki page, contacted Shweta to discuss project approach and did some homework before the actual coding period.
I had my first kickoff meeting on 21st May 2015 where I finally met Rose, my Project Manager who had helped me a lot during the proposal submission period. I also met the other Automation team members, Kesha, Daisy and Madi. Rose introduced us to the project by going through the slide show and explained us the project expectations, what approach we will follow as I took down my notes. I was so nervous about this meeting as it was my first professional meeting but it went off quite well.
The bonding period was smooth and went off pretty well.
On 25th May 2015 the coding period began and I started with my project. I contacted Shaifali, the student working on Meetup for which I will be developing the testing framework. I also had a hangout session with Shweta where she explained me where I should start from and how I should proceed. I also received my GSOC Welcome Goodies, a pen, sticker and a diary that day.
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| GSOC 2015 Welcome Goodies ! |
The very next day,on 26th May 2015 I received my first stipend, $505. This was the first stipend I had ever earned in my life and I was so happy to see my first very earned money in my account.
