# 2022 Wrap-Up: Opportunities to live by and Rejections to remember

## TL;DR

I had a motto this year - Don't give it to me easy, I like a little challenge winning feels better when you take a little damage. I took it a little too seriously and it caused some trouble. This was a fruitful year of learning, making new friends, gaining experiences and having fun.

**Read on!!**

## Google Developer Student Clubs

Google Developer Student Clubs are university based community groups for students interested in Google Developer Technologies. My university doesn't have a GDSC so I thought of applying for it.

### What I learnt from applying

I applied to have a GDSC at my college. And my initial application was accepted too. In May I had my interview. I could say it went okay. But...

In July, when several people on social media were celebrating their acceptance letters, I got a rejection. I was devastated by the news.

> I learnt that even if you get an interview, it isn't certain you'll get a role.

## Microsoft Learn Student Ambassadors

I applied for it around the same time as GDSC. Turns out, this wasn't for me either.

Himanshu takes another L.

![Goku Spirit Bomb GIFs | Tenor](https://media.tenor.com/asADWcW33vkAAAAM/spirit-bomb-take-that-l.gif align="center")

I went into thinking about why I should even apply if I am gonna get rejected anyway. I hyped everyone that I'll do so much being a lead or an ambassador, but I couldn't do it. Turns out, it's okay to be rejected.

> Rejections are as not bad as we think they are. They hurt, but they also let us know where can improve.

## Google Cloud Ready Facilitator Program

In Late April, I tried something new, getting into Cloud Computing. So I registered for a long journey of fun learning, networking and cloud computing with Google Cloud.

It was a whole new experience for me, something I didn't know at all!

Over the few months, I learned a lot about cloud architecture, what are the costs involved, hosting websites, clusters, monitoring and ML and much more.

[Check out my badges here](https://www.cloudskillsboost.google/public_profiles/388c197f-1a60-433e-9a39-f0de30ebc51b)

This reminds me of what Shifu from Kung fu panda said once-

> “**If you only do what you can do, you will never be more than you are now**.”
> 
> ~Master Shifu

## Hackathons, Conferences and Events

### Hackathons

My first hackathon was in March, I was very hesitant to do a hackathon in hopes of publicly embarrassing myself with my skills. But I'm glad I did. I didn't win but it surely opened my eyes to the capabilities of the people around me.

[MLH](https://mlh.io/) has been the absolute best bud for hackathons. Everyone should attend their hackathons and GHWs. Register for their latest [GHW here](https://ghw.mlh.io).

Since then I've been to 7 hackathons and won 2.

Plus you get some cool swag along the way 😊

%[https://twitter.com/himanshubalani5/status/1617453041569103872?s=20&t=E6CWXpokHVFLxOlqNyJw0A] 

![](https://cdn.hashnode.com/res/hashnode/image/upload/v1675184956149/b76bf2bb-4c1b-48bf-be13-d56e949ecc8f.jpeg align="center")

> Hackathons help you find new people, build new and existing skills, get more opportunities and are a lot of fun.

### Conferences and Events

I attended my first event which was Google I/O Extended 2022 in my city. Honestly, it was a lot of fun because I got to meet so many new people. Since then I try to attend as many of them as I can to interact with new people and know their stories.

> **"Conferences and In-person events are a great way to network with like-minded people and make new friends and share experiences."**

## CodeDay Nagpur

[**CodeDay Nagpur**](https://mobile.twitter.com/codeday_nagpur) was honestly the best experience I had in the whole year. I volunteered for it because it seemed like a nice initiative.

### Experience

The two days were absolutely exhausting and truly amazing. I had so much fun hanging out with high-school kids who are just starting in tech. They were a lot smarter than I initially thought. I loved every minute of helping them and would do it again given the chance.

> Here I truly understood why communities matter. This is where you learn, grow, help others grow and have fun while doing everything.

I want to mention all the gem people [Laksh Samdariya](https://mobile.twitter.com/lakshsamdariya), [Vedant Kakde](https://mobile.twitter.com/vedantstwt), [Ashwin Kumar Uppala](https://mobile.twitter.com/ashwinexe), [Kartikey Rawat](https://mobile.twitter.com/carrycooldude) and all the volunteers and head organizers who made this possible. Aman made the best post on [LinkedIn for CodeDay Nagpur](https://www.linkedin.com/posts/amantiwari2091_day1-day2-codeday-activity-7021804655311564800-PbiW).

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8BuD9FiWNL_0wQlCSdy119JnnbaYSmmI7Gmu7VTZ-iQB8dGjeSi4pzO79K-apDExRHi_P0H57tQN3rrUCSVPdji-bTwGL_qBqfiVQeZ3TrtPA_W0zQ0Vlau0AFeKBxkVnP52vG15XWUevAqiHDuELFt=w1190-h893-no align="left")

Photo: Hackers Hacking Happily

![](https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/AMWts8CxsVEwJLs3kVQEJtnOZn0MEQJmnI7W0OOOBal2wNqlhb577aRFpXCuvKyb0apMERAQEUI6A3enxyoiKJjL8kBxqtbiedYVCOFK9SqVaaMwiGawCgRX_ZCR5PoD6dllRWoc3Z8gA8Ke9nVnY1eC5BX2=w1339-h893-no align="left")

Photo: Team CodeDay Nagpur

## Conclusion

So this was an eventful year for me. Learning tons of new stuff, breaking mental barriers, pushing new heights and facing facts of rejection.

I hope 2023 can teach me more.

**Thanks for reading!!**

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*This blog is part of the* [*WeMakeDevs X Hashnode*](https://wemakedevs.org/events/hashnode) *Blogging Challenge. They provide amazing prizes for winners. Do check 'em out. I'm participating in the special track - 2022 WRAP-UP.*