10/22/18 Announcement

Happy happy Monday! How was your weekend? Here are a few updates for the week:

Harry Potter Study Jam

Take out your wands and mark your calendar for this coming Saturday. We are very much looking forward to hosting a Study Jam for the four houses of Hogwarts. Come prepared with your Defense Against the Dark Arts homework and get ready to have a magical time.

Professors will be live in Zoom from 7 AM to 11 AM PST on Saturday, October 27th ready to help you through your projects. Remember, Zoom is live so you can share your beautiful face and your screen with your project coaches. Robes, wands, and house colors are all encouraged. We look forward to seeing what you whip together!

If you’d like to participate, be sure to sign up here: https://goo.gl/forms/rN6DL5M7VbTSTmf22

React Webinar

We’ve lined up Udacity’s own Andrew Wong, Course Developer for the React Nanodegree to host a live webinar on the React concepts you need to know! Whether you’re headed towards FEND Project 6 & 7, already knee-deep in it, or just interested in learning about React then you won’t want to miss this special webinar.

• Thursday, October 25th from 3-4 PM PT
• Zoom event link here

Design Competition Results!

Voting has ended and the results are in!

1st: 2018 in Words by @Yuka {FEND}

2nd: Brain by @MiffyBruna(ABND)

3rd: Code by @Ron (FEND)

4th: Rocket by @olivergomes [FEND]

5th: Laptop by @Laura Griffee [FEND]

To see the winners, , visit @Catie Lynn (ABND) ’s design competition page: https://sites.google.com/view/gwg-us-tshirt-design-contest/gallery or join #design_competition. To buy your own GWG Udacity swag, keep an eye out for the Teespring link.

Group Projects

Also, be sure to join our new channel, #group_projects! It has the spreadsheet administered by the Facebook moderators students, for both joining and starting group projects. Participating in this will help them get feedback before releasing versions for all regions in the Udacity Scholarship Participants Facebook group (

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10/19/18 Announcement

TGIF scholars! We’ve got lots to tell you about - including newly added career sessions for UFEST18 and a webinar with Udacity’s React Course Developer.

But first, we're kicking off our Student Story Challenge! Read on to find out how YOUR story could get you a scholarship to a Udacity Nanodegree of your choice!

✨Inspire the World with your Learning Journey✨

Your story offers powerful insights and inspiration to the world, and we want to encourage and support you to share it! The courage and tenacity you've shown, the challenges you've met and overcome, the successes you've earned—these accomplishments will inspire others to pursue their own dreams the way you have. Plus, effectively and powerfully communicating your story is a great way to represent all the skills and traits that make you a valued talent, and a leader in your community!

We want to help the world hear about your learning journey and help you create a post that will stand as powerful professional assets. Over the next two weeks, the Udacity Grow with Google Scholarship will be hosting a Student Story Challenge. We invite you to write, post and share your learning journey with the world. The most inspirational student stories, those that are an expression of your grit, determination, talent, self-motivation and goal-oriented mindset, will be featured on the Udacity blog and will receive a scholarship to a Nanodegree of their choice.

>Step 1: Publish your Story on Medium - Write a blog post sharing about your Udacity Journey (follow the guidelines linked below)

>Step 2: Post your Blog on Social Media - Share your learning journey with your network!

>Step 3: Submit the Form - Share the link of your social media and blog post via the Google form linked in the site below.

Please note, prior to publishing on the Udacity blog, you'll work with our writing team to copy edit your post, in order to ensure we're showcasing your very best work!

Find all details for My Udacity Journey here:

JOIN US FOR UFEST18

ICYMI, join us live this coming weekend for Udacity Festival 2018, a worldwide celebration of community and the audacity to create positive change - for yourself, your career, and your community.

Over two days of virtual Zoom sessions, connect with fellow alums and current students in career panel events and global, digital meetups for each “School” of Nanodegree programs. This is our chance to reconnect, share experiences, and gain insight into what it takes to advance careers. RSVP HERE!.

Here are some of the special sessions that will be held with Udacity alums:

SATURDAY 10/20 | 11am - 12pm PST - What to Say When Making a Complete Career Change

SATURDAY 10/20 | 1:00 - 1:45pm PST - How to Make It as a Solopreneur

SATURDAY 10/20 | 3:15 - 4pm PST - How to Pitch Your Project and Get the Job

If you live in the California South Bay, come to the local meetup on Saturday, 10/20 starting at 8 PM PT. This event is being organized by @Heggy.MWSBayarea: https://www.meetup.com/Crack-into-Tech/events/255385764/

LAST CHANCE TO GET YOUR VOTES IN

The 10 finalists have been chosen and now the winning design lies in your hands. Vote now for your favorites. This design will be made into T-shirts & other cool merchandise that you can purchase to show your Grow with Google Scholarship spirit and provide aid to the World Literacy Foundation. Voting ends tonight at 11:59 PM PT. Vote HERE.

REACT SESSION WITH UDACITY REACT COURSE DEVELOPER

Join us for a special webinar with Andrew Wong, Course Developer and Instructor for Udacity's React Nanodegree. Andrew will be reviewing key React concepts and demonstrating ways to remove project blockers. NOTE: While this webinar is targeted to FEND students to help them complete Projects 6 & 7, Andrew will be using a demo project for this webinar so anyone interested in React is welcome to attend!

Thursday, October 25th @ 3 PM PT || 6 PM ET

Zoom event link: https://udacity.zoom.us/j/750165715

RETROFIT WEBINAR

*Retrofit: Benefits, Basic Implementation, Impl++, & (?Deep-Dive) Presentation* with @AAQ [AND--(SCz, CA)]

Wednesday, October 24 @ 6 PM PT || 9 PM ET

Zoom link here: https://zoom.us/j/6753739017

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10/15/18 Announcement

JOB OPPORTUNITY FOR VETERANS - Accenture

Accenture has a dedicated program focused on hiring veterans and their family members. If any veteran scholars are interested in learning more and being connected directly to our point of contact, please let me know! We will connect you with Accenture’s Military Talent Acquisition Expert. Please email me your polished resume with a subject line: _Accenture Veteran Opportunity - First + Last Name_

Once I receive your resume, I will review it and then connect you to our point of contact at Accenture to continue to the conversation! Send resumes to Kelsey@Udacity.com and DM me in Slack if you have any additional questions.

Graduation Issue RESOLVED

Thank you all for your patience this weekend while we worked to get graduations and project reviews up and running. Your projects completed should show up in your classroom and the “finish and graduate” link is working. If you run into any additional issues, please reach out to @Brenda.Udacity and @Kelsey.Udacity!

Graduate Week

This week, we’ve lined up some very special guests to inspire you to reach that finish line! Starting tomorrow, Tuesday, October 16th, we’re hosting Graduate Week where graduates from every track will be hosting AMAs (Ask Me Anything) in the #ama_sessions channel on Slack. Graduates will also be doing a *Slack Takeover* during their AMA. Don’t miss this chance to ask these graduates what advice they have to ensure you’ll finish by the November deadline. AMA schedule here:

Swag Design Competition

The designs have been created and submitted, Udacity staff has reviewed and the *top ten* designs will be on the design Google page. This week will be open to voting and the top 5 designs will be available on the TeeSpring store next week. Thank you all for the time you put into your designs and I look forward to sporting a scholar-designed t-shirt, sticker and mug!

@Catie Lynn (ABND) is updating the site and soon you’ll be able to see the top ten finalists and cast your vote! Be sure to keep an :eye: on the page for the finalist.

We are rooting for you this week! Let us know how we can support you as you are working on your projects! You can do it!

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10/12/18

Hey scholars! Now that your deadline extension has been secured, we ask / implore / PLEAD :pray: for you to take full advantage of these 3 extra weeks. Give yourself a moment to breathe and then get back at it! November 14th is a little less than 5 weeks away so use your resources and seek support from your classmates to ensure you finish *on time*. Repeat after us. “I can do this!”

GRADUATE WEEK - OCT 16-19TH!!!!

To keep you inspired and motivated, we’re letting our graduates take over - figuratively and literally - next week! Graduates will be hosting AMA (Ask Me Anything) sessions in the #ama_session channel so you can ask them their BEST advice for finishing strong. Graduates will also be doing a Slack takeover when we hand over our Admin privileges during their AMA hour. Get to know the Graduates hosting the AMAs here.

• Tues 10/16 from 6-7 PM PT
• Wed 10/17 from 8-9 AM PT
• Thur 10/18 from 7-8 PM PT
• Fri 10/19 from 9-10 AM PT

HARRY POTTER STUDY JAM

Join your Hogwarts House for our Harry Potter themed Study Jam on Zoom! The event happens *Saturday, Oct 27th from 7-11 AM PT*. We’ll have wizards offering live project help and conjuring spells to keep you entranced. Register here:

UDACITY WEBINAR

Info Session with the Developer Relations Engineering Team at Google on Tuesday, October 16 from 4-5pm PST

Hear directly from recruiters and developers on Google’s Developer Relations Engineering team about their roles and how you can be a strong candidate. RSVP here.

8 DAYS UNTIL UFEST18!

Are you ready for this 2-day virtual event? They’ll be digital meetups, local ones, and four fantastic cities where you can meet other students and alum to share inspiring success stories and connect with a strong community of high achievers to reach the next level in your career. UFEST18 info here.

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10/11/18 Product Announcement

Hi everyone! In case you haven’t seen the announcement on Student Hub, here’s a link to the blog post that fully explains the new Student Hub experience now available in your classrooms. Click the blue chat icon in your classroom’s left sidebar to access Student Hub and connect with your mentors and classmates. Feedback from students such as yourselves played a big part in shaping Student Hub - thank you for helping us continue to improve the learning experience!

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10/10/18 SPECIAL ANNOUNCEMENT

Hello scholars,

We have some important news!

We know how hard you’ve been pushing to complete your projects and what this Nanodegree could mean in shaping your future. Because of this, we’ve managed to secure an additional 3 weeks for you to finish the program.

Your new final deadline is Wednesday, November 14, 2018 at 11:59 PM PT

Our FAQ page on the Grow with Google site has been updated with additional information and we invite you to bring outstanding questions to any of our extended office hours. *Please hold off on asking questions in Slack until after our office hours today.*

• Wednesday, October 10th @ 2 PM PT || 5 PM ET
• Thursday, October 11th @ 2 PM PT || 5 PM ET
• Friday, October 12 @ 10 AM PT || 1 PM ET
• Monday, October 15th @ Noon PT || 3 PM ET
• Tuesday, October 16th @ 2 PM ET || 5 PM ET

Note: This is a *one-time only extension*. There will be NO further extensions. Don’t take your foot off the gas - use these additional 3 weeks and get those outstanding projects submitted! An email will be coming with more details later today.

We will see you at the end with that Nanodegree in hand.

Remember....You’ve got this!!

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10/8/18 Announcement

How is your Monday going? We are working furiously over here and hope you are too :catty: Here are the important items for this week!

Don’t miss UFEST18!

On October 20-21, you're invited to the Udacity Festival 2018, a worldwide celebration of community and the audacity to pursue great change. Over two days, we'll host a series of virtual sessions but this is your chance to make it local. Meet face-to-face with other Udacity alumni in your area to connect, share opportunities and celebrate all that we can accomplish.

Here's how it works:

• Plan a meetup on the weekend of October 20-21

• Share back your meetup details by October 12 and we'll help promote

• Prepare to host, whether it's an informal mixer or a demo

• Host and celebrate! Meet each other, take photos, and have a blast

Learn more and get started here.

Developer Webinar on 10/9

Don't miss our webinar panel discussion tomorrow, *Tuesday @ 9 AM PST || Noon ET*. Developers from 3 agencies will be sharing what projects their agency is working on, their personal journey to development and what their day-to-day work is like. Make sure to register! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-developer-tickets-50657319406

Study Jam on 10/10

Come and burn the midnight oil! @Laura (MWS). Laura and her fellow night owls :night_owl: are hosting an evening Study Jam this Wednesday, 10/10 from 5 - 9 PM PT || 8 - Midnight ET. Sign up to answer questions in the live_help channels here or just hang out with us on Slack while you’re working on your project!

Help is Needed!

We’re looking for more students to host 30 minute 1:1 sessions! Please help give back to this Scholarship program by giving just a little of your time to a classmate in need. :sparkling_heart: You can schedule as little (or as many) sessions with a variety of students as fits your needs. Volunteering is also something you can add to your LinkedIn profile as well. Just 1 hour a week is all that’s required. Sign up here:

Super Sloths Leading the Pack!

The points have FINALLY been tallied from Cohort Challenge #4 (webinars) and #5 (career story). Check the current standings here:

Shoutouts to these teams for their notable jumps up the leaderboard :applause:

• Super Sloths from 27th to 1st place
• Code Monkeys from 17th to 7th place
• Jumping POJO Sticks from 14th to 9th place
• L.E.D. from 18th to 11th place
• Amazing Codehort from 21st to 14th place
• wanderers from 23rd to 15th
• MidWest Tech from 29th to 23rd place

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10/6/18 Announcement

Rise and shine, scholars! ☀️☕️Welcome to Study Jam/ Study Cram Saturday. You know the drill! Study Jam Leaders will be in your track's live help channel from 7 AM to 11 AM PT || 10 AM to 2 PM ET today helping you through those technical hurdles. We'll also be throwing out random ice-breakers questions to add some fun to the day (who says it has to be all work and no play?) :woman-tipping-hand:

As always, please use our sign in and sign out sheet so we can get an accurate count of who showed up. If you need a little extra :muscle: don't hesitate to @ mentioning the Study Jam Leader on call for the hour.

>Sign in Sheet here

>Your Study Jam Leaders for today listed here

If you're in full power mode :boom: @Laura (MWS) of #night_owls will be picking things back up with an evening Study Jam/Study Cram session starting at at 5 PM PT || 8 PM ET later today! :party-owl:

Let's get some good work done today!

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10/5/18 Announcement

We are back! Did you miss us? We missed you! :revolving_hearts: Thank you for your patience this week as we were slow to respond. If you have questions, send them our way or join us for Office Hours at 2 PM on Tuesday.

STUDY CRAM

Join us tomorrow at 7 AM PST to 11 AM PST for a Study _cram_! We are getting to the end of the program and we've gotta get those projects in. Brew your coffee, get in your work zone and hang out with your fellow Udacians as we all cram together. Give us a ":brain:" if we will see you there.

DEVELOPER AGENCY WEBINAR

Udacity is hosting a webinar panel discussion on Tuesday at 9 AM PST with 3 developer agencies across the United States. Developers from each agency will be sharing what projects their agency is working on, their personal journey to development and what their day-to-day work is like. Make sure to register! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/a-day-in-the-life-of-a-developer-tickets-50657319406

UFEST18 ON OCTOBER 20TH

Let's celebrate the determination, spirit, and grit that unites us in #UFest18 - worldwide celebration of community,. Tune in to connect with fellow alumni, hear directly from instructors across our five Schools, and get inspired by our collective knowledge and ambition. Attend a meetup or let us know you’re interested in planning one here: https://udacityfestival.splashthat.com/

INFO SESSION WITH THE GOOGLE ENGINEERING TEAM

Tuesday, October 16 from 4-5pm PST

We're thrilled to have two recruiters join us to share more about the Developer Relations Engineering team at Google and what they look for in candidates. Join us to learn more. RSVP here.

HOW TO ASK FOR ADVICE IN SLACK

To ensure that your questions get answered lightning fast, follow these three steps! It’s important that the person you are asking know what exactly what you are asking for and what you’ve already tried!

1. StackOverflow: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/ask/advice?

2. Gayle: http://www.gayle.com/blog/2013/04/01/how-to-reach-out-to-experts

3. Article on Medium: https://medium.com/@gordon_zhu/how-to-be-great-at-asking-questions-e37be04d0603

LAST DAY FOR DESIGN COMPETITION

A friendly reminder that today is the last day to submit your designs for the competition! If you have a design you’d like to submit, make sure you review the guidelines and fill out the form by the end of the day today. @Catie Lynn (ABND) will be announcing the finalists on the 12th! More information here.

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10/1/18 Announcement

Happy Monday Scholars! We hope you had a wonderful weekend!

Brenda and I will be out of the office this week for a conference, so expect a delayed response. If something needs immediate attention, please message @nick.udacity

We’ve got one announcement for you today!

MARK YOUR CALENDAR October 9th at AM PST/12 PM EST

Don’t forget to register for next week’s *A Day in the Life of a Developer* event. We have partnered with three developer agencies to put this on (Willow Tree, YMediaLabs, Bottle Rocket Studios) Developers from each agency will share about their career story, what it's like to work for an agency and answer live questions that you share in the webinar chat! You really won't want to miss it. You can register here.

We will be back in the office on Friday :smile: Have a fabulous week and let us know if you need anything at all! Keep completing those projects!