It dosen’t seems possible until it’s done!!
The day 6th of March 2019 will always be remembered when dreams actually came true.
We were having our end semester exams and results were going to be displayed at 11:30 PM according to our time-zone. We had the last exam tomorrow at 4 pm and the pressure of GSoC was intense. I came to my hostel dorm after finishing the 4 pm exam that day and I had to study for the last one. I have submitted two proposals for GSoC, one for JuliaText in JuliaLang and other to JuliaAstro in OpenAstronomy. I have worked equally for both of them, maybe a bit more for JuliaText’s NLP one. I had an assurance that one of them might get in as I gave my all for them. Strict personal deadlines, iteration of thoughts and planning the best possible ways to strengthen my proposal.
So, I started studying for the last exam around 7-8pm and at the start, I wasn’t feeling the pressure of GSoC that much. And as time passed, minutes seemed like hours and the panic grew stronger. I just couldn’t wait till 11:30 PM. So, I was in a state where I couldn’t focus enough to let that thought go away and study for the last exam. I had the feeling that, can’t the result be a day after, why destiny wants them to coincide? Just Why?
Fast forward to 11 PM, I had to hide all the clocks from my site to study. But as they say, the internal clock was ticking loud with all sort of raging thoughts.
The clock struck 11:30 PM and I rushed to GSoC’s site. I typed the letters “Ro”…
No results shown, my heart skipped a beat!!
I went ahead, searched my name “Rohit Kumar”, and there it was. My name and My project.
I screamed in joy, “Bhai GSoC ho gya” (I am selected for GSoC) to my friend sitting beside me. I stayed there for a minute to let that sink in. Joy took over fear and anxiety a minute ago. A distant dream 6 months ago, finally within my grasp. Next, was the status update for all my batchmates and friends waiting for my results. Followed their congratulations. I am writing all this because it still needs to sink in a little, even today.
After all of that, I went to sleep and then I saw a mail from my mentor of JuliaText which wasn’t selected for GSoC. The mail was an invitation for Julia Seasons of Contribution (JSoC). My joy doubled. Of course, I can’t sleep that night. But I managed 2 hrs of it and the next morning I had to study for the last exam. I absolutely couldn’t, Who could at this point? I managed the exam somehow, the paper was relatively easier than I thought.
In the end, all that hard work was rewarded more than my expectation. GSoC and JSoC!!
As per GSoC rules, I officially can’t do both. But, I was so happy with both of my proposal being selected!!
The rest will be an exciting journey with OpenAstronomy!!