gci – Notes & Codes

At last, exams are over! Now I have at least a week before my school starts sending out our overall results (and see how “well” we did for this semester). Hopefully I won’t be retaking any subjects.

Anyhow…I finally received all the promised packages of alternative prizes from Google (about time). On my previous post last 4 months ago, after my supposed trip to Google got cancelled because of the virus, Google then arranged to give the winners alternative prizes instead, which include cash and swags. And so, after months of waiting, all the long-awaited packages are finally here at my doorstep, fresh from America.

The “Alternative” for the Trip

Ever since the winners received the cancellation email, Google informed us that they will be sending out alternative prizes instead. I guess this temporarily pacified our broken hearts, as we wait in anticipation what those prizes could be. When I did receive the details of the alternative prize, I must say that I had a so-so feeling about it. It’s not bad, but it doesn’t really replace the lost trip (I mean, what would?). It did, however, gave me another thing to look forward to, plus, in an attempt to cheer myself up, I made myself think that not all 17-year olds receive this kind of stuffs, especially in a time like this.

And so, from April till August, are the packages delivery months. This was my “please-don’t-get-my-package-lost-it’s-all-I-have-now” kind of phase.

Coronavirus played another part in delivering the packages (obviously). It’s the reason why it took months to deliver the items, and why I’m referring to “packages” (plural), and not “package” (singular). The packages (three in all), are delivered separately as there was some problems with delivery here and there. Also, we were supposed to be given a new phone as one of the alternative prizes, but since there is a very high possibility that it will not be delivered as planned, they decided to exchange it with the phone’s money value instead. Oh well, I guess what can go wrong, will go wrong.

Way to go, Coronavirus.

Although I like all the swags delivered, my favourites are the thermos, fleece and trophy. My old water bottle is getting its paint chipped off, and it’s about time I have my own thermos. Meanwhile, the fleece is so comfy for wear! I would wear it at home if it weren’t this hot. I guess I’ll just use it for school during long hours of lecture in a freezing classroom.

Lastly, the trophy! It’s my first time having a trophy instead of the usual certificate or rusting medals. The first time the trophy was displayed, I often stare back at it, just to observe it (and probably reminisce the past days on how I earned it).

Googler Speaker Sessions: Another Alternative Prize

Aside from the alternative prizes, we were also given a two-day virtual seminar from Googlers. The topics for the talk include open source, internship, augmented reality, Android, and more. Although I have to stay awake from 11pm to 3am because of time zones, the talks had been interesting, with internship, augmented reality and TensorFlow being my favourite.

Google Code-In Winners’ Virtual Seminar Opening

Google Code-In 2019 Statistics. This was the highest number of participants compared to previous years

On the actual trip, we were supposed to have a “day at Google” as part of our agenda, where we get to listen to Googler’s work experience and what other opportunities we can get. I guess this is the only part of the trip that they can recreate.

The talk had been fun, as aside from it being aligned with my interests, me and my fellow Grand Prize Winners finally had a face and voice reveal and we were also chatting in Telegram during the talk. On the last day of the talk, there was a section for volunteered winners to make a speech. It had been a rather sad part of the talk, as it felt like we were “parting ways” (and I guess it reminded us again that we should’ve been speaking in an air-conditioned, Google hall or something).

This wraps up the whole Google Code-In business. It had been fun and sad at the same time, but I don’t regret being a part of it. After all, the contest had officially ended on January 2020 (which means, this is the last Google Code-In contest), and I am blessed to be announced as a winner even if it didn’t go as I imagined it.

Besides, there are other ways to go to Google 😉

Google Code-in was in it’s 10th year in 2019 and had been epic in every regard, no doubt about that. It was unlike any other GCI competition I had before for the reasons that, first, I finally won as a Grand Prize Winner! Yay! . . . Second, it was the first GCI where Google had cancelled the US Trip for winners. Yay again! ( You can read about this here from my previous post )

Despite of that, I still want to encourage teenagers ages 13-17 to participate in Google Code-in. It could be a fun and wonderful experience where you will not just be introduce to the world of Open Source but you will also get to talk to fellow developers and most importantly will be able to contribute to something that could help people.

It took me 3 years to finally become one of the Google Code-in Grand Prize Winners. Although the winning moment was not what I had in mind, I did enjoy my GCI experience and learned a lot of new things.

So, for future GCI participants, here are some helpful advice that I can give which helped me in winning the GCI 2019:

Do your advance research about GCI. Know what GCI’s purpose is, and what is it all about. Moreover, research on its guidelines and contest rules, to make sure you are playing fair. You don’t want to get kicked out in the middle of the competition. By researching, you will get to know what you will be dealing with, as well as gain additional tips from previous winners
Focus on one organization. Each participating organization chooses the students that greatly contributed to them. Jumping from one organization to another lessens the chance of winning. It is also a plus to choose the organization you want to contribute to before the competition starts, as you get to have some time to familiarize yourself with how your chosen organization operates, as well as with their guidelines for contributors, programming languages used, etc.
Balance “Difficult” Tasks & “Easy” Tasks. Google stated in the contest rules that quality > quantity. It’s true, but you also need to get enough completed tasks to be able to proceed to the top 20 participants with the most tasks completed, as the organization will review the works from those who have made it to the leaderboard in choosing the winners, finalists and runner-ups. A good balance between doing easy and difficult tasks is helpful, as easy tasks add more count on your tasks list while difficult tasks are mostly quality contributions to the organizations.
Show that you are genuinely interested to learn. The whole point of this contest is for teenagers to learn more about contributing to Open Source technologies. It is good to ask mentors relevant questions when you need help, or to clarify things that you don’t understand. Keep in mind, however, that mentors are human beings that have lives outside GCI, so don’t bug them when they don’t answer instantly.
Be active in the community. Organizations have their own IRC or chat group. I encourage you to join in it, as this is the place where you can ask questions and talk to fellow participants and mentors. Being active in the community could also be the way to help other students when they get stuck or by answering their questions.
Bonus: Do Beyond What is Required of You. A week before the competition ended, where most participants were cramming to get additional tasks and finishing them, I decided to stop taking anymore tasks after I reached my own task count quota, and just solve open and unfinished issues on my chosen organization for honest and real contibuting. Doing this shows that you are interested, and really want to help in the open source even beyond the competition.

I hope you find the above tips useful. Google Code-In is a great competition and a good way to get acquainted to fellow developers and students. Good luck to all future GCI participants!

Tag: gci

Wrapping Up Google Code-In 2019

The “Alternative” for the Trip

Googler Speaker Sessions: Another Alternative Prize

Helpful Advice to Google Code-In Future Participants