kusanele

My Journey with Outreachy (week 6)

I have heard many stories and read many articles about outreachy internship phase, some of which have made me believe that i should turn, run and never look back, But i have been running towards my goal and today I am going to tell you all about it. What makes this article special is that I am currently in the middle of my internship contribution period.

Timely Frame

The value of learning is inherent in the process of starting to understand, rather than an end product. Yes you can manage to get things done as fast as possible but the most fascinating question is:

Did you learn and understand your deliverables?

Are you able to reproduce the same project without going back to google or any other source you might be using for help?

Do you understand your tools, your dependencies and modules?

Learning and understanding how things are done was the most important thing for me. I could not move from a topic until i fully understood it. This made it hard for me to finish tasks on a given time frame because i was scrutinizing everything. However, I believe that the skills i have learnt in this project are very important and they will help me a lot when applying for a job or contributing to another open source project.

Planning

As much as you want to learn processes during your contribution phase, it Is very important to plan how and when you want to finish your tasks.

A goal without a plan is just a wish. | CanStock

This is the most essential skill you need. I guess that is one of the skills i am currently lacking (but i am working on it). Setting up a plan helps you to stay aligned with your purpose and be able to deliver tasks on time. I am hoping to do better with the second half of my internship now that i have discovered my weakness , strengths and what works better for me.

Working from home

Over the past six weeks, I’ve been working from home. This meant that I had to take the initiative and get creative in order to be productive. As a result, I’ve realized that being responsible is more rewarding and less stressful than being unproductive.

person using black and silver laptop computer

Working from home has many advantages, such as being able to work when you like and the ability to work with the tools you would like. But working from home also brings some new challenges: You are no longer in a social setting or with people around you, so there is a lot less distraction. As a result, you need to be more focused and get work done faster than usual. Whether working alone or with distractions in the room, you will have to adapt your way of thinking in order to focus on what needs to be done.

Take home lessons

Consult other materials to know more about your project. Do not just rely on the git hub documentation only. Google, watch You-tube videos , Visit stackoverflow. There is always someone who experienced what you are currently experiencing. The solutions are available for you, You just have to look.

Thank you for reading. I will be updating you soon.

My name is Kusanele Mpofu. I am an Intern at Outreachy, working on a project called ModECI, which focuses on neural networks and machine leaning .My background includes competitive programming and experience in data visualization, machine learning, and Dev Ops.

This outreachy internship is a great opportunity to immerse myself in research that can help me to take initiative and contribute to the world at a larger scale.

Working on the research field using machine learning is something i have always enjoyed since the inception of my career in Data Science. I enjoy working on machine learning projects but there is always shortage of resources and insights when one is working alone. Outreachy has given me the opportunity to collaborate and learn from other great minds who are coming from different backgrounds.

My background includes competitive programming and experience in data visualization, machine learning, and recruitment analytics. This internship will be the second time that I have worked alongside an organization outside of academia.

My core values are:

Curiosity.

I guess that's what got me here in the first place, It all started back in primary school days when i got my first calculator. I was interested in its computing processes and ability to do calculations better than me. As i grew older I became more and more interested in computers.

Authenticity.

From the moment of birth, we are bombarded with images of "how to be cool" and "how to fit in." If you fail to know who YOU are and what YOU want, it can be very hard to live up to others expectations. I think that it’s better to do things on your own terms and not just because you are told to.

Nowadays, it not only helps you be yourself, but it also gives you the confidence to go after your goals regardless of what people think of you. At the end, it's your life and your choices.

Kindness.

Kindness is one of the human qualities that we all need to possess. When you treat others with kindness, they also reciprocate the same.
Kindness can be expressed in many ways. Treating others with kindness is one of the most important ways to express your humanity.

I cannot wait to meet all the Outreachy members that are curious , authentic and kind and most impontantly i cannot wait to contribute to my beloved project ModECI. I believe Outreachy is the best open source organisisation there is. I discovered Outreachy early in 2022 when someone on twitter posted about it. As i researched more about it, i fell in love with its work culture and its diversity and i knew that i had to experience all that and not hear it from others. When the applications opened for December intake 2022, I had to give it my best shot and here i am experiencing outreachy first hand.

I inspire to do the best of my ability in this project, who knows, who knows that 3 months project can end up being my lifetime project.

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