With 16,000+ participants from 111 countries and 715 open-source organizations participating, Google Summer of Code is one of the most popular programs which helps students enter the technology world and gain new skills. GSoC pairs students with mentors from participating open-source organizations, allowing students to face the real world of software development and coding.
For a year in a row, ShapeBlue and Apache CloudStack have been participating in the program and we are glad to share the success story of one of the students who successfully passed it. He is doing a Master Degree in Computer Science & Engineering from Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Professional Management & Technology, Raipur. As a person, he is curious about technology, startups, finance, sports(Swimming, Table Tennis) & fitness. Apurv has been mentored by Boris Stoyanov and David Jumani from ShapeBlue’s team. In his interview, he shares his experience with GSoC, feedback on the mentors, his success story and recommendations to other students, who would like also to join GSoC.
Interview with Apurv Gupta: Successfully Passed GSoC 2021
– Hello, Apurv, and thank you for joining us for an interview. Why are you interested in technology and when did you start to engage with it?
I’m interested in technology since 9th grade. Then I built my first website with HTML for a school project. I don’t know why, but it’s so fascinating to observe these transitions in society, how things are changing so fast and I believe that its the gift of technology. The tech industry has huge potential and growth opportunities.
– Why did you decide to participate in GSoC?
The honest answer is that it looked like a great opportunity. Apart from that, there is a good learning opportunity and exposure to tech experts, who can mentor you and help you learn.
– Why did you select Apache CloudStack as your project?
I had some good experience working with full-stack web apps but I had a hard time deploying them. But after messing up with some VMs remotely I found that I’m interested in DevOps. So, while searching for organizations on the GSoC website I found CloudStack and it was perfect to start with.
– What did you manage to learn during GSoC?
It is hard to mention just one thing, but it was a good learning experience in terms of exposure to technology, growth opportunities in my career and meeting a new community.
– Can you share more for your interaction with your mentors?
I really had diverse interactions with my mentors which was not just related to the code, debugging or the idea for the implementation, but also the things happening about us, future plans, how to achieve successful career development. The mentors were really helping in any direction and I am very happy to have the opportunity to collaborate with them.
– What did you manage to learn from the mentors?
A lot of things – from how to debug the code efficiently, to how to write clean production-ready code and most importantly how to approach a solution from different angles.
– What is your feedback on the Apache CloudStack as a project?
It’s a great project with so much potential, I’m glad to be a part of it. I recommend it to everyone and in the future, I plan to continue working on open-source projects.
– Will you continue contributing to the Apache CloudStack project in the future?
Yes, for sure!
– Will you recommend GSoC to other students and why?
Yes, I would recommend GSoC to the other students as it has so many pros. You learn a lot, community exposure is great, working with people who are smarter and can show you the right way is a great opportunity.
Meet Apurv’s Mentors
Apurv Gupta has been mentored by Boris Stoyanov and David Jumani from ShapeBlue’s team. The mentors are an important part of the GSoC program as they help students not only with technical pieces of advice but also with general guidance about their career and personal skills development.
Boris Stoyanov, Sr. Software Engineer at ShapeBlue and PMC at Apache CloudStack
” I had the chance to mentor a very motivated and devoted student. Apurv showed sound interest in his project and was fully committed to completing it, he was almost finished with it by the time of the first evaluation. On top of that, for some reason, he was declined to receive a stipend and ended up working for free. Overall the work as a mentor went really easy and smooth as I was lucky with my student, we’ve managed to deliver and it was really great experience from my side. Looking forward to next year.”
David Jumani, Software Engineer at ShapeBlue
“GSOC was an exciting learning experience for me as it was my first time as a mentor.
It brought back memories from my college days while I was working and bonding with students.
It is great to see the enthusiasm and fresh perspective students bring to open source, as well as watching them progress with their projects.
It was a great couple of months, working with the students, and I found myself getting a better understanding while explaining certain parts of the project and guiding the students, and we exchanged a lot of laughs and stories along the way.
It brought some cheerful moments in this rather turbulent year and I believe that these projects, as well as students, will be a welcome addition to the open-source community and I look forward to seeing them grow in the community doing it again next year!”
Ivet Petrova is the Marketing Director of ShapeBlue. She is responsible for strengthening ShapeBlue’s global brand and market awareness of ShapeBlue’s services. Specifically, Ivet’s team is responsible for brand, advertising, content and digital marketing, social media, and media relations.
