My Experience as a Developer Student Club Lead.

Someone once said that today or any day, that phone may ring and bring good news! Well, on the 6th day of August 2019 at 3.30pm, my phone did not ring but a new email popped on my screen and behold..

I would be lying if I said I was not happy. That is actually an understatement. I was elated! Prior to this, I was actively involved with the DSC activities in our campus as a regular member and some times a volunteer. Little did I know that the tables would turn one day and I would be the lead. If I perhaps asked, “God when?” the answer would be : Today!!

If you are probably wondering what this DSC means, then let me save you the trouble. Developer Student Clubs are university based community groups for students interested in Google developer technologies. By joining a DSC, students grow their knowledge in a peer-to-peer learning environment and build solutions for local businesses and their community. You can find a DSC near you here: https://developers.google.com/community/dsc/clubs

My journey as a DSC lead has been a cocktail of experiences and It would be my pleasure to serve you with some of it. Enjoy!

DSC SSA Summit 2019

As a lead, I was invited to attend Developer Student Clubs Lead Summit in Accra, Ghana from 12–14th September , 2019. It was clearly stated that Google would be paying for the flight, accommodation and hotel costs. Wow! How can you even keep calm after being told this? As it would have been my first time flying out of Kenya, you can guess how much I really anticipated this trip. To be honest, I did not even sleep lest I missed my flight. Haha, I did not miss the flight.

The DSC SSA Summit was designed to bring together 100 DSC leads from different countries in SSA to share best practices for growing a community, acquire technical and design thinking skills, leadership, including working sessions to develop an overall working plan for the next year.

Growing a Community

Having been equipped with the necessary skills to grow our communities at the summit, It was now our responsibility as leads to build them. My campus already had an existing community so my main focus was on how to maintain it and make sure that the members improved their technical skills.

One of my roles as a lead was to organize events in school to enable my fellow students learn the new trends in technology as well as growing as developers. Leading a community is not that easy especially if you are a student. One needs to find the balance so that you do not fail in your academics while trying to build a community. Balance is important!

I am really grateful to my amazing core team members ( Daisy, Easter, Gerray,Gladwell,Maluki and Mike)for their amazing contributions in organizing events for the club. What this means is that teamwork really plays a big role in smoothening the activities of the community thus you need to learn how to work with other people.

Impact

The most satisfying moments as a lead for me were when students would come up to me at the end of events and would tell me that they have learnt something new and would like to learn more.

Aniedi once told us, “Feedback is a gift.” This is indeed true. I would get happy whenever I heard from some with regards to their progess or when they would reach out to me for resources.

I am a strong believer of that you do not need to measure impact by looking at the number of attendees in meetups. I would tell my team that the most important thing is that the attendees learn and take a new skill home irregardless of the number.

I was particularly impressed by one of the students- Esther Wavinya , who is not doing a tech course but she would attend all our workshops and would go home and upskill. It makes me proud to know that she discovered how she would intergrate technology in her Geology course to solve problems. She is still doing a good job learning to code. I can not fully express how satisfying this is for me and knowing that it is not only her but there are others too.

Growth

Apart from growing my community as a DSC Lead, I have also been able to grow as a person. We have probably heard so many times that you cannot give what you do not have. Therefore, for me to lead and share knowledge with the community, I needed to have this knowledge. This opened up and cultivated a learning spirit in me.

The beauty of being in a community is that there are people who are always willing to share their knowledge with others. You do not have to facilitate all the sessions just because you are a lead. I would often invite some experts to cover some of the topics and I would also sit with my people and learn from these experts. Thank you Chris Barsolai(Machine Learning), Harun and Juma Allan (Android) and Wayne Gakuo(Design Thinking) for the time you took to equip my community with the mentioned skills.

I must say I am not the same person I was years ago. I have improved in terms of my technical skills as well as networks. You can be sure that growth is inevitable if you are or aspire to become a DSC lead.

Our DSC Program Manager, Auwal, shared this with me..

The secret of growth is to never accept that you have grown. If you are comfortable with your current state, your end is near.

Networks

Another privilege of being a DSC lead is that your network gets to grow. Not only do you get the chance to meet and interact with other leads across Africa but you also get to do so with some Googlers. Maybe even Google Developer Experts.

I have been fortunate enough to meet Erica Hanson and Aniedi Udo-Obong who are Developer Relations /Ecosystems Program Managers , Auwal MS- Developer Student Clubs Program Manager for SSA ,Ada Nduka Oyom, as the DevReL team from Kenya : Allela, Benson Kinoti and John Kimani . These Googlers have played a big role in making me a better person through their continued support and inspiring stories. There are many other people that I have met in my journey that have also created a great impact and I am really grateful for the lessons.

Important Lessons

Here are some of the lessons that I have learnt and keep reminding myself.

1. “If you are working on something that you really care about, you don’t have to be pushed. The vision pulls you.”- This motivates to keep learning and growing. As a leader, you might want to visualize the vision as the impact your community will experience.
2. “ Done is better than Perfect”- this quote by Aniedi Udo-Obong really works wonders for me. We often tend to pressure ourselves too much wanting things to be done perfectly. This reminds me that what I have been able to do is just okay as compared to not having done anything at all.
3. “Progress is always progress” — this quote by Obinna Ekwuno is a daily reminder that progress is always progess. Whether you are learning, leading or working on something, the little you do or have done is also progress. Keep that in mind.
4. “ Just do it!” — Yea, just go ahead and do it. You want to apply for a role lets say a DSC lead, go ahead. Is it a scholoarship? Whatever it is, just do it. Take the risk! Better to try than having to regret not doing it at all. I had to tell myself this to write this first article too.

What does it really take ?

You might be asking, “What does it really take to be a DSC Lead?”, “What are the qualifications?” Most people believe that you must be really good to be chosen as a lead. I honestly did not have all the technical qualifications you might think I have or must have been required.

The response I would give is that , you must express your interest in taking on the responsibility to help students grow as developers and empower these students to impact their communities with technology. You get selected to be a lead because you believe that technology can do extraordinary things for the world.

Through this experience you will not only be leaving a legacy of impact but also growing as an individual and a meaningful contributor in the greater developer ecosystem.

Parting Shot

Like I mentioned, I would only serve you with just some and not the whole experience. I can not really describe it all in writing but I can fully attest that it is worth it! I strongly believe that some of the things I have accomplished were made possible because of the lessons I have learnt as a lead and that many opportunities were opened up by this position.

Being a Developer Student Clubs Lead is the best thing that ever happened to me in 2019/2020 and one of my greatest achievements.

Me in 2019 starting out as a lead in my campus Vs me in 2020 giving a talk at #OSCAFEST in Lagos

I would love to conclude by saying …

I am motivated by a desire to give back to the community, use my skills, to meet with like-minded people and have fun while doing so. The most important work of my life is my service as a volunteer and leader because it is where I get the chance to give back to the community.

I hope you enjoyed reading and found this useful.