2022 has been an extremely rewarding year for me. In 2022, I not only grew my technical skills but also my soft skills. I completed three semesters with a research internship, all without any summer or winter breaks. Sounds exhausting? But I did it.
In this blog, I’ll be sharing my achievements, rejections, and learnings. I believe that embracing rejections is important, as these are the stepping stones to success. Success tastes sweeter after a rejection.
And I promise that this will not be a typical blog in which I list my accomplishments and achievements for 2022. Instead, I'll walk you through the small steps I took each month and the lessons I learned.
January (C++)
Our classes officially began in January due to the COVID-19 admissions delay.
Till this time, I only knew Python, C, HTML, and SQL. I started learning C++ and since I knew C, learning C++ was easy.
I participated in the MLH Local Hack Day Build, now revamped to Global Hack Week, and made a cute snowman gif on Canva that won a special mention. I also participated in several other hackathons but couldn’t win a prize.
Lesson learned: 'It’s okay to lose; the most important thing that matters is that you tried and you learned.'
February (Research)
I was always fascinated by research work, and I got an opportunity to do so in February. I started researching metaheuristic algorithms and microarray datasets. I specifically researched bio-inspired metaheuristic algorithms. Bio-inspired algorithms are algorithms based on a specific feature or behavior a living organism exhibits.
I read research papers on Elephant Herding Optimization, the Coyote Optimization Algorithm, the Emperor Penguin Optimizer, the Black Widow Optimization Algorithm, and the Sailfish Optimizer. I researched how 'bio-inspired algorithms' are used in global optimization problems. At this time, my interest in machine learning grew, and I started learning more about it.
I also attended the prestigious Harvard WECode Conference virtually on full scholarship. Learning from prominent women leaders and networking with fellows was an experience in itself.
Lesson learned: 'Every living organism is unique and has traits of its own.'
March (Python)
I didn't realize how quickly March arrived, and with it, the opportunity to participate in the TalentSprint Women Engineers program, which is supported by Google.
I was stoked to participate in the selection process for this program, as I had heard from my seniors that if selected, it would open a lot of opportunities for us.
The program’s selection process was quite rigorous, with every round being an elimination round. The first round consisted of an aptitude test consisting of 50 aptitude questions to be answered in one hour.
The second round was an English language test on the Pearson platform to test our proficiency in English. The third round was a coding round with two coding questions and six MCQs related to the programming language we chose. I chose Python.
The final round was the interview round, which took place for roughly 30 minutes and tested us on our programming basics and soft skills. Though I was rejected for this opportunity, I still learned a lot by participating in its process.
After this rejection, I started learning data structures and algorithms in C++.
Lesson learned: 'Rejections are a part of life. Fill the gaps and improve yourself.'
April (C++ and DSA)
Then came April, with end-of-semester examinations.
During this time, the only skill I learned was how to study the whole semester syllabus in a single day.
The month of April was consumed by end-of-semester examinations. But still, I managed to achieve a few accomplishments during this time.
First, I became a Cisco Campus Ambassador for my university, and second, I became part of Retrograde, the creative team of Celestial Biscuit IGDTUW. I also got selected for Codess Café’s OSS mentorship program.
Lesson learned: 'Have patience. Everything happens at the right time.'
May (Data Analysis)
May started with the second semester, and I started learning about data analysis and data visualization. I was even given the opportunity to do a research internship at my university for the summer.
During this time, I applied for the Avery Dennison Invent Scholarship, but my idea couldn’t reach the interview round.
I hosted my first event, 'Introduction to Google Crowdsource and the #ShareYourScript Campaign,' with Sowmiya, which saw the participation of more than 80 attendees and 2000+ live contributions to the Google Crowdsource application. After this successful event, I became a Google Crowdsource Influencer.
Lesson learned: 'Never underestimate the power of community.'
June (Machine Learning)
June started with MLDLS (Machine Learning and Deep Learning Show), a two-week Bootcamp by Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors in which we were taught the basics of machine learning and deep learning.
This Bootcamp served as a turning point in my machine learning journey and provided me with a much-needed jumpstart. I trained many classification and regression models during the Bootcamp. The Bootcamp added to my knowledge of machine learning and deep learning concepts. I continued to learn more about them by reading articles on 'Towards Data Science'.
Lesson Learned: 'Knowledge grows with practice.'
July (Research)
In July, I applied the knowledge of everything that I have learned till now in the machine learning domain and started working on my research project based on heart failure prediction.
I worked in a group of two, and we performed hyperparameter optimization and feature selection on eight different classification algorithms to get the best model with the highest accuracy.
Lesson learned: 'Tinkering can prove to be beneficial in research.'
August (Web Development)
In August, I worked on writing the research paper based on the research findings.
It was around this time that I began learning Web development and hosted my first website on Spheron Protocol.
I also participated in Get Set Hack by RISE, one of India's largest cybersecurity hackathons. During this hackathon, I learned about encryption, decryption, web pen testing, ciphers, encoding, and decoding.
Lesson learned: 'Don’t stop yourself from exploration. Everyone has a different journey.'
September (AR)
September was the most fulfilling month for me. It started with a new semester in which I studied many core computer science subjects that I was looking forward to.
I volunteered for CppCon 2022 as an online volunteer.
I completed the Influencer Academy Bootcamp organized by Influencer Academy and Google Crowdsource.
I participated with a team of two in a couple of ideathons and won runner-up prizes in them. I also tried my hand at making AR filters using Spark AR.
Lesson learned: 'Your skills grow exponentially when you work as a team.'
October (Bot Development)
I started October by brushing up on my DSA knowledge of trees and sorting techniques.
I completed and successfully deployed my Telegram bot, with which users can play rock-paper-scissors, hangman, and guess the number game.
I also started working on my project ideas that are still in progress, and I’m continuously learning something new while working on them.
October ended with a piece of sweet news for me as I got selected for the NXP WIT scholarship and mentorship program.
Lesson learned: 'Sometimes happiness comes unexpectedly at the oddest hour.'
November (Game Development)
I started working on a game project with my teammates that was to be submitted as our DSA project.
We made a classic Pac-Man game but with a twist. While building this project, I learned a lot about the PyGame library and how to use it efficiently for game development.
I won a sponsor track prize in Hack Concode for my project STEM For All, a technical forum where you can discuss science, technology, engineering, and mathematics.
I learned about responsible innovation and its use in AI.
Lesson learned: 'Innovation should be ethically and morally right.'
December (APIs)
In December, I learned about APIs, specifically REST APIs, and how to use Postman effectively.
I also participated in the Fueler Blogging Challenge, in which I had to write consistently for five days on one of the topics provided each day. I completed my 2022 by winning the Fueler Blogging Challenge.
Lesson learned: 'Proof of work is more important than certificates earned.'
I know this blog was super long, but I had a lot to talk about. And even this blog alone could not cover everything I achieved and learned in these 365 days of 2022.
With every new project came obstacles, a lot of Googling, and a lot of bugs. But I am grateful for the learnings that came with them.
This year not only gave me many good friends but also a lot of exposure and immense faith in myself. It allowed me to explore, seek, and find what suits me the best. I tried web development, game development, data analysis, data visualization, machine learning, and pursued research.
I got rejected from a lot of opportunities and missed many because of self-doubt. But all these rejections only made me stronger and closer to my goals. There were times when I just wanted to quit, when I felt low, but my learnings kept growing, and life kept moving forward.
Most importantly, what 2022 taught me is that every moment is important. We either keep living our lives in the past or keep worrying about the future. And in all of this, we ignore the present, which is the ultimate truth. It's okay to get rejected, and it's okay to feel low, but it's not okay to quit. It's not okay to underestimate yourself and create walls.
I would just like to end my blog with a quote:
"Accept yourself, love yourself, and keep moving forward. If you want to fly, you have to give up what weighs you down."
-Roy T. Bennett
Cover Image credits: Photo by Kelly Sikkema on Unsplash