GSoC is awesome and I'm happy to see it's still running.
The experience I got as a student in 2012 was invaluable for my career in tech ~ more so since I did not formally study CS. It introduced me to so much: a lot of the programming itself, collaborating with fellow developers.
I spent one year preparing for it, and man seeing my proposal accepted was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced (much better than when I graduated, even). A close second is knowing that I actually was helping people with my code (I still keep the emails where people sent me questions about the library API I was developing).
I hope this year's (and future) batches of students get to experience the same (if not more) highs :).
The experience I got as a student in 2012 was invaluable for my career in tech ~ more so since I did not formally study CS. It introduced me to so much: a lot of the programming itself, collaborating with fellow developers.
I spent one year preparing for it, and man seeing my proposal accepted was one of the best feelings I have ever experienced (much better than when I graduated, even). A close second is knowing that I actually was helping people with my code (I still keep the emails where people sent me questions about the library API I was developing).
I hope this year's (and future) batches of students get to experience the same (if not more) highs :).