Reflecting on 2023: A Personal Journey Through Peaks and Valleys
2023 zoomed by, and it feels like 2022 was just yesterday. As the year wraps up, these last few days are the perfect moments to ponder on its highs and lows. Come join me for a glimpse into my 2023.
OpenMRS Fellowship
OpenMRS holds a special place in my career journey. Being chosen for the OpenMRS QA Fellowship was a fantastic opportunity. For eight months, I delved into the world of software testing, writing unit tests, integration tests, and end-to-end tests. This experience not only broadened my skill set but also underscored the importance of incorporating software testing into daily code writing. This year I was able to get promoted to /dev3 as well.
Google Summer of Code
A major goal for 2023 was to become a GSoC mentor, and I achieved that with OpenMRS. I had the privilege of mentoring not one but two incredible projects. My mentees successfully completed their projects, and it fills me with pride. Main goals of these projects were to increase the test coverage for openMRS 3.0.
ASCII
After leaving PromiseQ last year, I joined a young startup called ASCII as a part-time software engineer, leading the front-end team for several projects. Working on a next-level ticket management system was such a blast, but due to time constraints with my studies, I had to bid farewell after seven fulfilling months.
Tilli
Post the OpenMRS fellowship, I sought new opportunities and discovered Tilli through a friend. Initially helping with testing for open-source projects, I later joined Tilli to contribute to building a teacher’s dashboard. Tilli is a play-based, social-emotional learning tool designed to empower children, caregivers, and educators in building essential life skills. With a talented remote team, I’ve spent just over three months at Tilli, and I’m optimistic about achieving great things together.
KidneyX
Venturing into hackathons, I participated in KidneyX, a project assessing kidneys using a urine sample. We secured 2nd runner-up at the HackX 8.0 inter-university startup challenge, became finalists for Venture Verse, and also made it to the finals at the TechX X-AI ideathon. Valuable feedback from judges enhanced my understanding of pitching, product uniqueness, and standing out.
Sustainable Education Foundation — SEF
Successfully running the ScholarX 2023 batch, our engineering team is currently developing ScholarX v2, aiming to finish it soon. Our goal for the next year is to become a GSoC organization, taking our initiatives to the next level. We also did a GSoC awareness session as well. You can find it below,
Other Highlights
While I didn’t write as many articles as last year, my articles garnered over 100k views. I continued to enjoy playing the guitar (you can find some videos below) and, as I enter my last days at the University of Sri Jayawardenepura, I look forward to graduating next year.
Though I gained some weight, my BMI assures me of good health. Overall, 2023 was a fantastic year, meeting incredible people. Here’s to another great year in 2024 filled with new adventures. Wishing you a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year — may all your dreams come true!
Wanna get connected?
Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/anjula-sack/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/anjula.shanaka/
Github: https://github.com/anjula-sack
