"Are you sure about this?" is an uncomfortable question I haven't been able to answer convincingly, yet.
Steve Jobs once said that you have to trust that the dots will somehow connect in your future. For a lot of us, however, these dots are already set in place right when we're born. You just have to follow them, and it isn't as easy as it might sound.
I started my journey with FOSS United over a year ago, as a volunteer for ChennaiFOSS. I remember conveying my interest in volunteering to Vishal who asked me if I would be able to help with outreach. I had no clue what that meant, and after half an hour of googling, I told him I'd just help out on the ground.
I, along with the newly formed FOSS United Chennai team (Hari, Sakhil, Immanuel), spent the next few months organizing monthly meetups and Linux Installation fests. I kept getting more involved with the activities of the foundation. As months passed, I became a FOSS Club lead (then the FOSS Clubs coordinator for the first cohort), a volunteer for IndiaFOSS, and started helping out with a bunch of other small projects the organization was involved in. But more importantly, for the first time in my life, I became an evangelist. Everywhere I went, I would talk about this organization and the great work they've been doing (I don't talk a lot usually so that was interesting).
Another reason why I find this period of my life very interesting is that I had discovered something I loved doing, while at the same time I had no clue what I wanted to do with my life. It's funny how these "dots" would never let you think that doing what you like can be a career option too. By this time, I had started taking ownership of various responsibilities, even starting my own projects at FOSS United. I had been looking forward to IndiaFOSS, which would supposedly be what all those efforts from the past six months would have led to. I thought "What's next" multiple times during this phase. I had to get serious about my career and find something else to do. I mean, I couldn't just keep doing this forever, right? IndiaFOSS seemed like the perfect conclusion to months of hard work and fun interactions. Life had other plans, however. I got offered an internship at FOSS United.
It was an easy yes; I left my ongoing internship and officially joined as a Community Manager intern. Life has been a roller-coaster since then, and I mean that literally.
While most people refer to the Kubler Ross change curve as the "stages of grief," it might very well apply to starting a new job. It does for me.
A lot has changed since then. We have new (and amazing) leadership, a bigger team, some more interesting projects coming up, and a broader vision. I've met some amazing people along the way, all of whom I continue to really look up to (and sometimes ask for help from, I'm bad at that). I'm very excited to be a part of this FOSS United 2.0, and playing a small role in shaping what Kailash and Rushabh envisioned 4 years back.
I'm glad I met Vishal, Rahul, Siddharth, Abhishek, Kailash, Shobhankita, Anoop and countless others, and while our interactions have been limited, they have all unknowingly inspired me for the longest time and helped me look at things in a different way while I gear up for another (longer and hopefully more fun) ride on this rollercoaster.
Ansh
Talking about FOSS United at CityJS Conf. India
At IndiaFOSS 3.0
Murals at IndiaFOSS 3.0
Talking about FOSS United at DelhiFOSS 2.0