GSoC Co-Mentoring Experience
Introduction
Hello 👋, I am Mounika. I am a Data Engineer at Brown Center for Biomedical Informatics. This summer, I had the privilege of co-mentoring a talented student, Jay Sanjay alongside Jacob Zelko (@TheCedarPrince) on a project for Google Summer of Code (aka GSoC). Here, I would like to share my experience as a co-mentor, offering insights for future mentors and students alike.
Before diving into my experience, let me provide some background on how it all started. At JuliaCon 2023, I had the chance to meet Jacob Zelko and have been following his work at JuliaHealth ever since. One day, I received a message from Jacob asking if I’d be interested in co-mentoring Jay for his GSoC project. Fortunately, I was already working on several projects at BCBI involving Julia programming, OMOP CDM databases and OHDSI tools, all of which were closely aligned with Jay’s project.
Feel free to visit Jay’s work on OMOPCDMPathways.jl or read about his fellowship experience from this post.
Mentor-Mentee Relationship
Jay, being a proactive student with a strong involvement in JuliaHealth, worked closely with Jacob to build a proposal for the project several months before GSoC began this year. His early involvement and familiarity with the community set a solid foundation for the project. Jacob, with his extensive experience mentoring GSoC students over the years, brought invaluable insights not only for Jay but also for me, as I was just beginning my journey as a mentor.
Jacob established regular weekly Zoom meetings for the three of us to discuss Jay’s progress, review his accomplishments, and plan the next steps. During these meetings, I focused on taking detailed notes to ensure we stayed organized and up to date with all the tasks. We used Trello, a project management tool, to track progress and manage project tasks efficiently. Additionally, we stayed connected thoughout the week via a dedicated slack channel for any ongoing discussions or questions (on the Julia Slack).
Technical Discussion
Jay’s project “Developing Tooling for Observational Health Research in Julia” was inspired by the TreatmentPatterns R package [1]. The main goal of the project was to enhance observational research capabilities within the JuliaHealth ecosystem. To help Jay get started, Jacob created 10 to 15 GitHub issues, each linked to a specific function that Jay planned to work on.
During our weekly meeting, we discussed the challenges Jay encountered, any roadblacks in his progress, and reviewed the pull requests he submitted on GitHub. These sessions allowed us to provide timely feedback and guide Jay through complex technical issues, ensuring steady progress throughout the project.
Learnings and Observations
Jay’s proactive approach, steady progress, thoughtful questions, and clear focus on completing the project are qualities from which every student can benefit. His dedication to learning and problem-solving made a significant impact on the success of the project.
Tips for Mentees
From a mentee’s perspective having the following qualities would be helpful
Stick to the proposal: While it’s natural to feel the urge explore new ideas beyond the original proposal, it’s essential to remain focused on the original proposal due to time constrains.
Adaptability and open-mindedness: Be open to feedback and willing to adjust the tasks as you face challenges.
Time Management: Many students juggle internships, interviews and other commitments during the summer. So it’s to manage time effectively and discuss with the mentor about the progress during those times.
Effective communication: Stay up to date with any updates from GSoC or from the mentor. Keeping your mentor updated about your progress or any challenges helps build a collaborative and supportive mentor relationship.
Tips for Mentors
On the other hand, Jacob demonstrated what it means to be an effective mentor. He showed me how to foster a supportive, collaborative relationship with the student. These are the lessons that I will carry forward in future mentorship roles:
From a mentor’s perspective having the following qualities would be helpful
Clear communication: Communicating well in advance about the availability to meet or to review the work, having frequent meetings with the mentee would be helpful.
Encouragement: While offering support, it’s important to encourage the mentee to take ownership of the project.
Commitment and time: Mentoring GSoC is a voluntary role, often taken on in addition to regular professional work. Balancing GSoC with other work commitments requires effective time management and commitment.
Structured Guidance: Providing a well-organized plan, such as using task management tools like Trello and GitHub issues, ensures that the mentee can follow a clear path towards success completion of the project.
Conclusion
Google Summer of Code offers an incredible opportunity for students to hone their programming skills while contributing to impactful open-source projects. It was a rewarding experience to be part of this journey as a co-mentor, and I am grateful to Jacob for giving me the chance to be involved in such a meaning project with the JuliaHealth community.
Through this experience, I not only gained insights into effective mentorship but also deepened my understanding of open-source collaboration and its potential to drive innovation in healthcare. I’m excited to explore further ways I can contribute to the JuliaHealth ecosystem and continue supporting the community.
Let’s Keep in Touch!
If you would like to know more about me, you can connect with me on Linkedin.
References
Citation
@online{thakkallapally2024,
author = {Thakkallapally, Mounika},
title = {GSoC {Co-Mentoring} {Experience}},
date = {2024-09-12},
url = {https://juliahealth.org/JuliaHealthBlog/posts/mounika-gsoc-mentor/},
langid = {en}
}