In the past, I haven't been one to publicly document my journeys about much of anything, but I've come to realize that documenting is an enriching experience for both the reader and the writer. It's also a way of keeping myself accountable so I decided I'd do a weekly series on my GSoC journey, and that's where we are now.
The Announcement
On the 1st day of May 2024, I got an announcement email that my proposal was selected and that I had made it to the GSoC community. I applied to a community I really liked (Wagtail), and my efforts over the months paid off. I quickly told my friends and family (who'd been supportive and encouraging throughout the application process). It was easily my biggest win of the year, but I knew I had a lot of work to be done and I was ready for it. It was a little past 7 pm in my timezone so I sent a message to my mentors via Slack the following day.
Community Bonding Period
My mentors responded, and we scheduled our first meeting for the day after. I got to learn some things about my truly amazing mentors, one of whom had also been a Google Summer of Code intern in the past. We discussed meeting schedules, project expectations, modifications to make from my original proposal, preferred means of communication, availability, what to brush up on, and light tasks that would help prepare me for the coding phase. It was at that moment that I truly felt absorbed into the community.
I don't think I could have started my community bonding period any better.
Cheers to a new beginning with GSoC.🥂