Hello everyone, hope you're doing fine. I've been DM'ed a lot over LinkedIn and a lot of other Social Media Platforms regarding queries about my GitHub Campus Expert Journey and also about the selection process. This blog is an attempt to answer all those questions and help understand what are the necessary steps to follow to become a GitHub Campus Expert 🚩.

How did I come across the GitHub Campus Expert 🚩Program?

I had already got my hands on the GitHub Student Developers Pack which provides you with access to amazing developer tools worth a...lot of money. Probably 5 figures. USD. Probably even more. You can learn and improve your skills using the Developers Pack. (Check it out if you haven't).

Anyways, I was browsing through the GitHub Education website and discovered the GitHub Campus Expert 🚩 Program. After some reading and a quick YouTubing session, I clicked on the Become a Campus Expert button. (I was a bit early and asked them to notify me when the selection process started, but we'll just skip through that. :D)

So what is the GitHub Campus Expert 🚩Program?

According to GitHub- "Campus Experts are student leaders that strive to build diverse and inclusive spaces to learn skills, share their experiences, and build projects together. They can be found across the globe leading in-person and online conferences, meetups, and hackathons, and maintaining open source projects."

So as a Campus Expert 🚩, GitHub provides you with resources that help to grow your local community from scratch. It helps you in organizing events and doing everything else to engage and nurture your community. (You also get a lot of personal opportunities and networking opportunities!) Although GitHub Campus Experts 🚩 are not your average Campus Ambassadors, they are not GitHub Employees either. We represent and spread the boon of Git and GitHub and try to help grow local communities.

Eligibility

To apply for the program, you must:

• Be 18 years of age or older

• Have had a GitHub Account that's at least 6 months old.

• Have the GitHub Student Developer Pack

• Be enrolled in a formal higher education institution

• Have at least one year before graduating

Step 1: Get the Pack

That's right. You need to get your hands on the GitHub Student Developers Pack to be eligible for the application to the program. You need to verify that you are a student, by uploading any Institute ID or your Institute-issued student email ID. Once you've been verified you can proceed to the next step which is filling up the initial application. This part is pretty self-explanatory and should be easy. (hmu if you still get stuck)

Step 2: The Form

Complete the application form with all the essays. Remember plagiarism is a sin and the system will auto-reject your application if it senses any form of plagiarism. The essays and the entire process checks for these things:

• Potential: What do you want to do? What do you want to learn?

• Motivation: Why do you want to do what you want to do?

• Interest: Why do you want to be part of the program? What have to done to ensure success thus far?

• Contribution: What will you be able to do once you're in? What have you already done?

Try to include these details in your essays:

• Trace out your community. What kind of people does your community comprise?

• Talk about the problems you have suffered building/working with your community. How have you tackled it (if you have) and how does it hamper people from learning/achieving goals?

• Explain what the status quo is in your community.

• Where will the GitHub Campus Expert 🚩Program come into the picture?

• Talk about your values. Inclusivity, Diversity, making people feel safe and fostering a learning environment.

• Talk about your goals.

Check out this blog for additional reference. (It's from GitHub)

Also maybe this one

Step 3: The Video

You will be notified via email at the end of the review if GitHub would like to move forward with your application. You'll then be asked to submit a video resume - a simple video of you talking about yourself, your community, and your visions for the community.

This helps the GitHub team get a better understanding and get to know you closely. So be confident and free in the way you speak. You'll have to submit the video resume in 2 weeks' time. It takes about a week to review the videos. You'll be notified via email if you make it through.

Reference video I used: ( Thank you Vaishnavi Dwivedi ! )

Step 4: Training

If your submission was approved, Congratulations! You’ve been accepted to the program. You’ll go through the GitHub Campus Experts 🚩 Training. The training has six modules and takes 12 hours to complete in a span of 6 weeks.

The training will have 6 modules and takes 12 hours to complete in 6 weeks. Here you’ll be able to analyze your community and learn community leadership skills like Inclusivity, Information Design, Public Speaking, Communities, and Software Dev skills. At the end of your training, you’ll submit a community proposal that will serve as a guideline for your community and you’ll become a GitHub Campus Expert 🚩.

F.A.Q.

Q: Can you please share your training?

A: No the training modules are designed to help you learn and look out for things that are needed to become an effective Community Lead/ Expert. You should come up with answers yourself.

Q: Can you review my essays?

A: I'm sorry but I won't be able to help every one of you with your essays. But I can give you a few pointers. Try to be yourself. Reflect upon what you know about your community, and what you can and will do. Your intentions should speak. Do not try to plagiarize from others.

Q: My application got rejected. Can I reapply?

A: Yes absolutely, since the program looks for newer Campus Experts 🚩 every 6 months, you can go for it in the next semester.

I'll keep on adding the FAQs as I get more questions!

Thank You!

Thank you for being with me till here! I tried to cover everything that would be necessary to know about the process. Good Luck with your application. If you still have any questions/queries you can reach out to me on my LinkedIn / GitHub / Twitter.

Cheers!