June Announcements

6/28/18 ANNOUNCEMENT

Helllloooooooo!!!! ⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️⚽️As many of you have likely noticed we’re in the thick of the World Cup. :soccer: :runner: Even if you’re not a fan, it’s hard to ignore the spirit and excitement swirling around during the months of June and July. So in the spirit of competition and project progress, the Udacity Community Managers have a challenge for you!

Did you know that there is another Google Developer scholarship program at Udacity running in the EMEA (Europe, Middle East, and Africa) right now? Students just like yourselves, are going through MWS, FEND, AND and ABND Nanodgrees as we speak! Their program also has two community managers, @Joanna.Udacity and @Magda.Udacity.

Even though the US didn’t qualify this year for the World Cup (#robbed!) we make our own rules here in the Udacity Scholarship program.

Starting on Thursday June 28th - July 19th, the USA scholarship program and the EMEA scholarship program are going to enter into a friendly competition to gain the pride and glory that entails the SCHOLARSHIPS WORLD CUP. 🏆

The Rules

From Thursday to Thursday throughout the competition, we’re going to measure the collective project progress between USA and EMEA scholarships to see who had the most project passed that week. Tracks with difficult projects, like FEND P2: Memory Game, will earn double points. Each Friday we’ll announce the winners and that scholarship program will take the cup for the week.

We start now and end on July 19th. So what are you waiting for? Get those projects submitted and make @Kelsey.Udacity and me PROUD. 💪 USA! 👊🇺🇸

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6/27/18 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Do you want to supercharge your coding skills? There is one surefire way to do it and that’s to code everyday. We’re inviting you to embark on this great endeavor through a #100daysofcode challenge!

Starting today, June 27th, we will code for 100 days. Simply code for 30 minutes a day for 100 days and tell us how it went each day in the #motivation channel. This challenge is just as much about acknowledging our own accomplishments as it is about supporting each other. Try to find two people each day and tell them what a great job they are doing. You can start #100daysofcode anytime you want. When you finish we will send you a cool emoji to commemorate your achievement!

See this page for the full guidelines to this challenge. Best of luck!

Special thanks and recognition to @Judi Portwood (FEND) who came up with this gwg_100_days_of_code Challenge idea and mapped the entire thing out for us! 💖Thank you Judi!!

One added surprise: If you are participating in the Cohort Challenge and *every* member of your cohort participates and completes the gwg_100_days_of_code challenge your cohort will earn 500 team points!!

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6/25/18 Announcement

Attention cohorts! Here is your first COHORT CHALLENGE:

Challenge #1: My Secret Resource

Point value: 75 points

Details: To complete this challenge, every member of your cohort must share their favorite article, tutorial, video, mentor, project coach, or classmate tip to date -- something that helped them figure things out when they were really stuck. You must provide a backstory on why this is your favorite resource when sharing with your team members. Each student will then use the Master Resource Doc Survey Form to add their resource into the Master Resource Doc

Deadline: 11:59 PM PT on Sunday, July 8th

Challenge #1: Survey Completion Form

Early bird bonus points: If your cohort is able to complete in this challenge _and_ submit their survey form within the first 7 days of this announcement (July 1st to be specific), your cohort will earn an extra 25 points!

A few reminders:

  • Your cohort must complete the challenge *and* have your team captain fill out this survey form by the deadline to collect the 25 points.
  • Points are per cohort (not team member) and cannot be doubled. If each team member enters more than 1 resource into the Master Resource doc, you will still only receive 75 team points (although we will give you a :high-five: for those extra resources)

Details about the Cohort Challenge Program on our GwG page here:

Good luck!

30 minute tutoring session

Have you fallen behind and need a little extra guidance? FEND, ABND, and AND students can sign up for a free 1:1 technical session with Iip from the Udacity team. We will start choosing students this week for this private 30 minute Slack session.

Submit your name here:

Hired webinar

Skills vs Experience: Constructing a Tech Resume that Gets Noticed Webinar

Join this deep dive webinar on making your resume stand out, featuring exclusive guest Nidhi Gupta, Sr. VP of Technology at Hired. Register here:

Keep your eyes peeled for a special announcement on Wednesday, June 27th!


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6/22/18 Announcement

Hey everyone! We have some exciting news. Today we are launching our new COHORT CHALLENGE PROGRAM!

How does it work?

Each cohort will “race” :horse_racing: against each other by completing challenges to earn points. The cohort with the most points at the end of the program will be declared supreme cohort and earn serious bragging rights. There will be 6 biweekly challenges and 3 biggie challenges. Cohorts can see their point standings on the cohort leaderboard that will live on the Grow with Google site.

OK, but is there a prize?

To go along with bragging rights, the top cohort will also receive cool Udacity swag for every member of their cohort! The challenges have been designed to help you utilize the resources to finish your Nanodegree and move on to a brighter future (the ultimate prize)! But hey, we know it’s really all about the swag!

How do I participate?

Get yourself in a cohort! If you are already in a cohort make sure that Kelsey has created your team channel and that your cohort has between 3 and 15 students (we are leaving it in your hands to find additional members or split your cohort into smaller ones). If you are not in a cohort, these simple instructions will tell you how to sign up and find your people!

When will the first challenge be announced?

The first cohort challenge will be announced on Monday, June 25nd and the deadline to finish that challenge will be Sunday, July 8th. *Don’t freak out* if you don’t have a cohort by Monday! You still have one week to join/create a cohort and another week for your cohort to finish the challenge. Keep in mind that points are _not_ retroactive - meaning you can’t go back and complete past challenges for points - so it’s to your advantage to form your cohort sooner rather than later.

Are you pumped? Are you ready? Where can you read more details?

Here on our Grow with Google site, of course!

Your first cohort challenge will be posted on Monday, June 25th. Until then, have a wonderful weekend!

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6/21/18 Special Announcement

Hey everyone! Break out those laptops and turn on those computer monitors. Our Thursday night track-wide STUDY JAM starts in just 10 minutes!

We'll have Study Jam Leaders in EVERY live help channel (#fend_live_help, #mws_live_help, #abnd_live_help, and #and_live_help) from *5 - 9 PM PT* TONIGHT - and in some channels the support goes to even later!

Don't miss this opportunity to get IMMEDIATE technical help and push through your roadblocks. Our goal tonight is for everyone to make significant progress on your projects so you'll be able to submit them for review.

If you're in FEND, join us at 5:00 PM for a *live Q&A webinar* with Project Coach Ryan Waite who will be answering your project and lesson questions.

Event link is here:

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6/18/18 Announcement

HELLLLLLLLLOOOOOOOOO SCHOOOOOLLLLARRSS!

Now that we've got your attention, did you have a productive weekend? :smile: :upside_down_face: We have some exciting things come up this week. We hope the Study Jam, webinars, AMA sessions, and more will help you get one step closer to completing your projects

Cohort Challenge

By now, you should have chosen an image or icon that represents your cohort and you should know one thing that each of your cohort members are struggling with in the course. If you’ve chosen an image and you have not shared it with Kelsey, tag Kelsey in the image today!

Over the next week, share your study strategy with the rest of your cohort. It can be difficult to carve out the time for the course material, what do you do to keep up with the workload?

Study Jam Thursday

Put the family to bed a bit early :bed:, find yourself a comfy spot :couch_and_lamp: and brew a BIG pot of coffee because this Thursday we are getting down to business! Our first track-wide evening *STUDY JAM* is *June 21st from 5 PM - 9 PM PT*. We’ll all be on Slack we we can work through your projects together. Come for 30 minutes or stay for as long as you can. Sign up to help us answer questions in your track’s live help channel too! Teaching is the best way to reinforce your new skill sets!

Study Jam Sign Up Sheet here.

FEND Q&A Webinar

We will be hosting a technical Q&A webinar with Ryan Waite on Thursday, June 21st at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET. We know the first few project are tough, make sure you take the time to get your questions answered at this webinar! June 21st at 5 PM PT webinar registration here.

Upcoming Project Coach AMAs

Mark your calendars for these upcoming AMAs with your track project coaches. Check your track’s calendar under the Calendar tab on the Grow with Google site for future Project Coach AMAs:

  • Wed, June 20 @ 4 PM PT | FEND coach Mikias | #fend_proj_3 channel
  • Wed, June 20 @ 5 PM PT | MWS coach Ryan | #mws_proj_2 channel
  • Thur, June 21 @ 11 AM PT | AND coach Anh | #and_proj_3 channel
  • Fri, June 22 @ 11 AM PT | FEND coach Ivan | #fend_proj_2 channel
  • Fri, June 22 @ 4 PM PT | FEND coach Mikias | #fend_proj_3 channel

Hey MWS Students!

MWS Students, do you need help with Project 2? Doug Brown, a MWS Nanodegree graduate and currently the UI Engineering Manager for Academy Sports + Outdoors, will be walking through the rubric for MWS Project 2:Restaurant Reviews App, Stage 2 and taking live questions at the end of his session. Event link here.

Equity 101

What is equity, and what does it mean for you? Join career coach Michelle Lai as she covers the basics.

  • Understand how a company evolves from idea to IPO through a series of investments
  • Gain an overview of the types of long term incentives provided to employees at different stages of a company.
  • Walkthrough a cost/benefit analysis of equity at a startup versus public company across 4 years.
  • How to ask a potential employer for the right information to accurately value equity as part of a compensation package.

Register here:

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6/15/18 Announcement

Happy Friday, scholars! What are you up to this weekend? This coming Sunday will officially be the 2 month mark into your Nanodegree program. If you have fallen behind on meeting your project deadlines there is still time to catch up! Focus on making sure your projects follow the rubric and then submit them for approval. Use your classmates and your resources to get you back on track. Don’t let the weeks slip by as you try to figure things out yourself! Reach out if you have any questions or need help! Tip: Join the #turtle_squad for motivation & support.

Here’s what we have in store for next week:

Study Jam Thursday

Our first track-wide *STUDY JAM* is next *Thursday, June 21st*! Join us on Slack from 5 PM - 9 PM PT - We’ll have Student Leaders in your track’s #live_help channel if you need technical assistance, virtual coffee flowing, :coffee: and we’ll keep energy levels up by sharing our favorite study tunes! :headphones: Our goal is to get 100 projects submitted across all 4 tracks by the end of Sunday! Whether you can spend 1 hour or the full 4 hours studying, every bit of progress makes a difference. So hop online during Study Jam and let’s conquer those projects together!

I want a date with Iip!

OK, maybe not a date in the traditional sense of the word but a personal technical mentoring session is a pretty cool deal! If you’re in ABND, AND, or FEND you could be one of the lucky students who will receive 30 minutes of uninterrupted technical time with Iip. Just fill out this short form and tell us why you should be picked! Register for a 1:1 mentoring session with Iip here;

FEND Technical Q&A Webinar

Resident celebrity project coach Ryan Waite will be hosting an open Q&A FEND webinar next Thursday, June 21st at 5:00 PM PT/8:00 PM ET. Ryan will be taking questions to help you through your FEND project and lesson roadblocks. June 21st at 5 PM PT webinar registration here.

Upcoming Project Coach AMAs

Mark your calendars for these upcoming AMAs with your track project coaches. Check your track’s calendar under the Calendar tab on the Grow with Google site for future Project Coach AMAs

  • Sun, June 17 @ 10 AM PT | ABND coach Natalia | #abnd_proj_4 channel
  • Mon, June 18 @ 11 AM PT | FEND coach Ivan | #fend_proj_2 channel
  • Wed, June 20 @ 4 PM PT | FEND coach Mikias | #fend_proj_3 channel
  • Wed, June 20 @ 5 PM PT | MWS coach Ryan | #mws_proj_2 channel
  • Thur, June 21 @ 11 AM PT | AND coach Anh | #and_proj_3 channel
  • Fri, June 22 @ 11 AM PT | FEND coach Ivan | #fend_proj_2 channel
  • Fri, June 22 @ 4 PM PT | FEND coach Mikias | #fend_proj_3 channel

Understanding Equity Event

The Udacity Alumni team will be hosting a webinar on Equity on June 19th. Come prepared to learn what equity is and what it means for you. Join career coach Michelle Lai as she covers the basics!

June 19th at 9 AM PT event registration here .

Keep up the good work, be kind to one another, and have a great weekend!

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6/13/18 Surprise Cohort Announcement!

The team names are in and the captains chosen. To those that participated, great job coming up with some creative and clever names!

COHORT CHALLENGE:

Alright, here is your next challenge cohorts. Are you ready? By this time next week, do the following things:

1. Tell your cohort where you are at in the course and ask one question about something you have been stuck on.

2. As a cohort, find (or make) an image, emoji, gif that represents your team. Once you've got it, tag me! We will be sharing soon what all of this is for.

Not in a cohort or your cohort archived?

If you never joined a cohort or your cohort was archived, you can find others in your area and track using the doc below. The instructions are listed in the first tab of the doc here.

FEND TEAMS

  • * Code deFENDers - Matt S (FEND) is TC
  • * Space_City_Coders - Erica Lehotzky
  • * Midwest Tech - Rachel B + Dannygsmith
  • * Code Warriors [FEND] - Amy [FEND]
  • * Midnight Coffee - @Jacob Olson [FEND]
  • * Boston Strong - Julian [FEND]
  • * West Coast Best Coast - Nettie [FEND]
  • * Hurri-Coders - OnceUponADream
  • * East Coast Fenders: Sarah
  • * Keystone Coders - @Sara Krum
  • * Rising Tide - smadonna1986 [FEND]
  • * Capital Coders - Tracy F
  • * Prosper Fend- Zacariah Col
  • * Fendtastic - Anavee

ABND TEAMS

  • * Angry Nerds - The Bailey Brew
  • * Hungry Like the Wolf - Brooke Perry
  • * Androidians - Catie Lynn
  • * The Band - Joseph [ABND]
  • * Droidpool - Marc G
  • * Gr8tst Coders of all time - Daniela Beck
  • * Nerd_herders - Miriam E.
  • * Codeland Ini - Ubom in Ga
  • * Java_the_hutt - Michelle Tan
  • *Jet City Coders @Gwen in WA [ABND]

AND TEAMS

  • * wANDerers - Anujap
  • * The Warriors - awkonecki
  • * Jumping_POJO_Sticks - @Sepideh (AND) (AND)

MWS TEAMS

  • * OptimizePrime - Decisa
  • * Pacificoders - Joemc
  • * Always Handy - Jon F (e

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6/11/18 Announcement:

Springfield, MA GWG Event

Our partners at Google want to invite you to their upcoming Grow with Google Springfield event on July 9th. The all-day event is completely free and will take place at the MassMutual Center at 1277 Main St. You can register for digital skills workshops, 1:1 coaching with Googlers, or drop in at any time for your pick of product demos.If you’re interested, live in the area and able to attend on July 9th, please fill out this form here.

Hey Cohorts

If you have not already, please send me your cohort name, team captain and the time you are meeting. If I don’t have this information by tomorrow morning, I will assume your cohort is inactive and your channel will be archived. If you are in an inactive cohort but would still like to participate in the program, please fill out the Cohort form again and you will be placed into a new cohort.

ABND Project Resources

Hey ABND! You’ve got a project deadline coming up on June 15th. If you need some extra help, @iva + @natalia are here to offer their support. Join us live tomorrow at 10 AM PT in #proj_4_abnd to ask your project specific questions. If you aren’t able to join, stick your question in the Project Coach question doc and they will get it to it!

FEND Project Resources

Hey FEND Scholars! We are SO proud of everyone who worked hard to submit a project last week (that’s 200 of you!). :applause. If you are still struggling with P1 or P2 here are 3 more FEND resources to help you along this week.

  • Wednesday, June 13 @ 9:00 AM PT - Technical AMA with Student Leaders @RyanB [FEND] and @Seleah in the #ama_sessions channel. Come with your P1 and P2 questions and roadblocks!
  • Friday, June 15 @ 11 AM & 4 PM PT - Project Coach AMA Sessions @Ivan.ProjectCoach [FEND} & @Mikias.ProjectCoach {FEND] will be online taking project questions in #fend_proj_1 and #fend_proj_2
  • Portfolio Project Resource Guide - a compilation of student tips and guides for Build a Portfolio Site can be found here.

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6/8/18 Announcement:

Hi everyone! What are you doing this weekend? Hopefully fitting in a few hours of project work and if you’re in FEND, joining us on Slack for STUDY JAM SATURDAY!

Study Jam Saturday

We’ll have tons of resources on June 9th to help you work towards project completion. While this event is geared towards FEND, we invite anyone to join the fun to learn and lend moral and technical support. The more the merrier

  • Github tutorial @ 8AM PT - Project Coach Mikias will be giving a quick overview of how to use GitHub with Windows to submit a FEND project. Event recording can be found on our Tech Webinars page.
  • Technical AMA @ 12:00 PM/Noon PT - Student Leaders Chris & Jason will be taking your Project 1 & Project 2 questions live in the #ama_sessions channel. Don’t miss this chance to get project direction & guidance.
  • Support in #fend_live_help from 7AM to 2PM PT - We’ll have seven (7!!!) solid hours of technical assistance in the #fend_live_help channel. Student Leaders will be manning #fend_live_help from 7 AM - 2 PM PT. Look for their Student Leader badge .Don't hesitate to reach out to them if you're stuck!

Upcoming Webinars

Project 1 MWS Webinar with Doug Brown on Saturday, June 9 @ 9 AM PT

MWS Students, do you need help with Project 1? Doug Brown, a MWS Nanodegree graduate and currently the UI Engineering Manager for Academy Sports + Outdoors, will be walking through the rubric for MWS Project 1:Restaurant Reviews App, Stage 1 and taking live questions at the end of his session. Event link here.

Online Security - Android Webinar, Monday, June 11 @ 5 PM PT

Morrison Chang is a software developer who started when the web was young and has worked in manufacturing, finance, and advertising. He has been programming Android since the G1/ADP days and is a commit level/lead member of the Skylight1 open source project. In the past he has presented at BarCamp NYC, NYPC’s Java Mobile Group, AnDevCon, and DroidCon NYC. Event link here.

Project Coach AMAs

Project Coaches are former Udacity students who excelled in completing their Nanodegree and are committed to helping you finish yours! They host technical AMAs in the project channels so take advantage of them as a resource! No question is too big or too small. Here are the upcoming AMAs:

  • Sunday, June 10 @ 10 AM PT = ABND Project 4 with Iva in the #abnd_proj_4 channel
  • Monday, June 11 @ 9 AM PT = AND Project 3 with Anh in the #and_proj_3 channel
  • Monday, June 11 @ 11 AM PT = FEND Project 1 & Project 2 with Ivan in the #fend_proj_1 channel and #fend_proj_2 channels
  • Tuesday, June 12 @ 10 AM PT = ABND Project 4 with Iva in the the #abnd_proj_4 channel
  • Wednesday, June 13 @ 5PM PT = MWS Project 1 with Ryan in the mws_proj_1 channel

*Check your track’s calendar under the Calendar’s tab on the GwG site for the complete Project Coach AMA Schedule*

That’s it! Have a productive & safe weekend! Hope to see you tomorrow at Study Jam!

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6/4/18 Announcement:

Happy Monday Scholars! We have some deadlines coming up, have you been working on your projects?

New Slack Channels

We heard your feedback and we’ve opened up some new channels for you! #github, #womenintech, #explainittomelikeim5 #night_owls #turtle_squad. Click Channels in the left nav to search for these channels and join. We will also be opening up resource channels for each track - keep an eye out for those! Not in a Cohort? Sign up for a cohort here

Calling All Cohorts

Are you hearing :cricket:s in your cohort? Let’s take the time to chat with one another and utilize this great resource. If you are a cohort, here are three action items for you this week:

  1. Choose a Team Name: Let’s get the creative juices flowing. Cohort_95_blah is not a very fun team name. Talk to your cohort members to find out what you have in common or what you all enjoy that could make a catchy team title.
  2. Team Captain: Once you’ve decided on a name, choose someone to be the Team Captain. A Team Captain will be my main point of contact in your cohort. They are responsible for sharing information with me and letting me know if you cohort needs anything! So, once you have a team name, the Team Captain should DM @Kelsey.Udacity and let me know what you’re old name was and what your new name will be!
  3. Choose a Weekly Time + Date to Meet*: Finally, decide on a time to chat each week. I know that you are not all in the same location, but setup a Zoom call or a Google Hangout. Additionally, talk about a strategy for getting your work done together. Maybe you save your questions for that once a week meeting? Maybe you work on a project together? If one member is ahead, perhaps they can help walk you through the project. We are talking teamwork here people! :smile: :muscle:

*NOTE: If I don’t hear from your cohort Team Captain before next Monday, I will assume that your cohort is inactive and your channel should be archived.*

*** FEND STUDENTS***

FEND Project 1 Help

If you are having trouble getting started, help is on it’s way! Check out these FEND events specifically targeted to helping you complete Project 1: Build a Portfolio Site

  • Technical AMA on Wednesday, June 6th @ 3PM PT. Student leaders Sachin & Matthew Cranford, who have both completed Project 1, will be in the #ama_sessions channel to take your questions and offer their personal project advice.
  • Build a Portfolio Site Webinar on Thursday, June 7th @ 11AM PT. Join project coach Ivan, a FEND ND graduate, as he walks you through Project 1 step-by-step. Link to this recording can be found on the Tech Webinars page here.
  • Project 1 Study Jam on Saturday, June 9th. Use the power of your collective knowledge to help your fellow FEND students who are still wrestling with Project 1. Volunteer to cover the #fend_live_help channel or host a FEND meetup in your area. Let’s help everyone reach 100%.

FEND Project 2 Help

Join Ryan Waite, a FEND ND graduate, for a live webinar this Tuesday, June 5th at 4:00 PM PT as he walks through FEND Project 2: Memory Game. Link to this recording can be found on the Tech Webinars page here.