The past Outreachy interns and mentors in India gathered on a memorable day of July 8, 2023, to commemorate the milestone of 1000 interns this year with the May 2023 cohort. I organized and hosted the event with my team of volunteers, and we successfully put together a memorable event for all attendees.
The day started with the volunteers decorating the venue and preparing it for the event. As the attendees poured in, the atmosphere lit up with insightful conversations. The volunteers enthusiastically welcomed the attendees with Outreachy swags that can be used to spread the word about the program. The attendees engaged in an icebreaker activity that encouraged networking with fellow interns and mentors.
The event began with the introduction of all the attendees, and to make it more fun, they also added a fun fact about themselves and a recent accomplishment they are proud of. The introductions helped everyone learn about people’s career trajectories after they became Outreachy interns and the impact it had on the lives of the interns. We all were surprised when we learned that one of the attendees was an intern in the 2013 cohort!
The day’s first activity had the attendees racking their brains as they guessed the logos of various organizations associated with Outreachy. The enthusiasm was on another level as everyone competed to guess the correct answer and score points. After a long game of logo guessing, it was time for everyone to get re-energized with the delicious food and dessert. The north-Indian vegetarian buffet and ice creams in the rainy weather made everyone’s day and re-fueled them for the rest of the event.
Post-lunch-break scenes were pretty energizing as we moved on to the second activity of the day – breakout rooms. The attendees could choose one of the six breakout rooms based on the technology they have worked with during the Outreachy internship or are currently working on. The division of breakout rooms was into the following six themes – Web Development, App Development, AI and ML, DevOps, UI/UX + low/no code contributions and miscellaneous. The attendees got the chance to share their knowledge and gain back new information from the breakout rooms. Following the breakout room session, participants from each group summarized their conversations.
The day’s final activity again tested the attendees’ knowledge of Outreachy and open source as they solved crossword puzzles in pairs. The puzzle had clues associated with Outreachy and open source, and the attendees had 15 minutes to solve the puzzle. Even though some clues gave attendees a hard time, we had four winning teams who finished the puzzle within the timeframe without the Internet.
After the crossword puzzle, the stage was open for the attendees to share their experiences about their Outreachy internship and how it altered the trajectory of their lives. Following the open stage, the attendees jotted down their experience of the celebration event on a sticky note and then stuck them on the whiteboard. The attendees were elated to participate in the celebration and were glad to connect with past interns.
The event concluded with a memorable group photograph and a celebratory cheer for Outreachy. The India celebration event was a golden opportunity to physically meet and connect with people we previously knew only on Zulip chat. The experience was surreal, and I am sure everyone must have had valuable takeaways from the celebration event and many memories to cherish forever!
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