Today, Geek Club organised a Workshop called BaharatApp Workshop which went pretty well, if I do say so myself.
BaharatApp is a social network application for food lovers on which they can share their cooking experiences. The team won the Arab Mobile App Challenge in 2014. In the end of the workshop, the presenters shared some of the lessons they learned while developing such an application.
Therefore, I thought I would take this opportunity to connect some of these lessons to what we’re trying to achieve at Effat University Tech Society Club:
1) Explore: we want to create an environment which allows you to explore different areas of interest - where you’re not constricted by the courses you’re taking, or the major you’re in.
2) Self-Learning: self learning is a skill, and as a club and society, we want to encourage students to develop the ability to self learn. One way we’re attempting to do this is by releasing weekly challenges. These challenges expose you to different ideas and concepts and encourage you to “google” for answers.
3) Ask for Help: we want to create an environment which encourages you to ask questions. Confused about a challenge or having trouble with your program, send us a message! It’s as easy as that. We can’t guarantee we’ll know the answer, but sometimes working together on a problem helps solve that problem ten times faster!
4) It’s not all about the programming: really it isn’t. Developing an app, a website, or a game doesn’t just consist of developers and engineers, it consists of artists, marketers, researchers, scientists, story tellers, writers and musicians. You need a team of diverse skills sets. Therefore, this society isn’t just for CS, IS, and ECE students. It’s for everyone.
5) Build a strong team: knowing how to work well with people is an important skill. One of our goals is to expose you to tools that allow smooth workflow between team members of different skill-sets.
6) NEVER Give Up: If your dream is to become a game developer or develop the next social network, know that with every dream, comes hard work, dedication and persistence. I’m not gonna lie, programming is not easy, but the more you practice, the better you get. Take it from a senior student.
And lastly:
"The more you give to your education, the more your education will give to you. - Yumna Aziz Ansari"
And yes, I just made that quote up. :)
You can find out more about the BaharatApp here