Major League Hacking - MLH graduation speech April 2021

The following is an excerpt from my graduation speech to the MLH fellows graduating in April 2020.

Hello everyone, congratulations to all of you for graduating today. Given the current pandemic, I hope this fellowship is something you will definitely cherish one day.

I have had the opportunity to interact with many of you this season, so thank you to all of you for reaching out to me. To see a happy smiling face at the end of the session or to read the occasional shout outs during your daily standup updates were the most fulfilling moments for me.

Identifying time crisis and how to act on it

Time management was a common topic during our discussions. The only difference was that some knew and acknowledged they were in a time crisis, but others were shy or hesitated to admit this.

As you start your career or the next step for yourself in life, this is one of the things you will have to unlearn and learn. Unlearn from saying yes to everything, Learn to say NO and learn to prioritise the important.

You do not have to work on opensource for free

I know most of you plan to continue contributing to the projects that you have been working, which is a very nice way to give back to the opensource community. But, do not be guilty if you cannot keep up to these words. After the fellowship, you will have different committments, and if at all you do not find the time to work on an opensource project then it’s totally ok.

Final advice

• Unlearn from being harsh on yourself.
• Do not fear failures, learn your lessons and move on.
• Learn to stay happy and Look after your well-being.

Thank you Raise.dev and Major League Hacking for this wonderful opportunity to be a mentor to these bunch of amazing fellows. Wish you all the best. Stay safe and healthy.