What you need to know about Google’s Bangkit 2021
It’s almost exactly a month since I graduated from this program. The past 6-months have been both a fun and thrilling journey. It was indeed a rollercoaster-like experience. Nonetheless, I gained a lot of new insights, experiences, and also friends here.
For those who might not know yet, Bangkit is an annual learning program initiated by Google along with its industry partners; Go-Jek, Tokopedia, and Traveloka.
2021, the year I joined, is its second batch. Unlike last year, Bangkit 2021 is offered as one of the Kampus Merdeka programs, so you can earn up to 20 SKS (study credits) by joining this program. It is intended for active university/polytechnic students (in 5th semester or later) from all majors. Prospective students were able to select up to two among three learning paths; Mobile Development (Android), Cloud Computing, and Machine Learning. It’s usually called MD, CC, and ML respectively.
The admission process started back in late 2020. To enter this program, we must first take the entrance exams. The materials depend on which path/s we choose, because this would serve as our placement test (we could only learn 1 path in the end). Back then, my preferred choices were Machine Learning and Cloud Computing, so I needed to take tests related to mathematics for machine learning and fundamental programming. There are also other mandatory tests such as general math, general programming, computing knowledge, personality traits, verbal reasoning, and situational judgement questions. It took about 2 hours to finish and was done on Dicoding. Lastly, I also needed to submit my faculty’s approval on Kampus Merdeka website.
Among 40,000 applicants, only 3,000 accepted, and I was glad to be chosen as one of the Machine Learning students.
Bangkit officially started on February 15, 2021. When they first said this program will have a tight schedule, they really meant it.
Adapting to a new learning setting was definitely a challenge. I struggled a lot, especially during the first months.
However, as I try to look back at my Google Calendar, it turns out there were a lot of sessions I have joined throughout this program, there are too many that I think I lost count.
Truth be told, what triggered me the most to join this program is because it is 100% Free.
You only need your laptop as well as the internet connection, and you’re all set.
To give you an insight regarding all the events within the program, I decided to make a recap about it. I will be telling you from the perspective of an ML student (CC and MD students might have joined more or less events, I am not sure about this).
Coursera, Dicoding, and Qwiklabs Access
Learning methods in Bangkit consist of self-paced learning and instructor-led sessions. For the former method, it’s usually done in an online course provider, Coursera. There are a total of 6 courses for ML students to complete. 2 courses for all students in general, 4 courses for ML students only.
Some of the tests within those courses also required us to perform the simulation through Qwiklabs.
In Dicoding, we are given access to some additional courses (not mandatory), such as Kelas Belajar Dasar Visualisasi Data.
A simulation class for the TensorFlow Developer Certification Exam is also needed as we will be taking the real one later on.
Live classes taught by experts
The instructors that will teach you every week will not only come from university partners, but also from other institutions as well.
and to name a few…
There are two types of classes we will get in instructor-led sessions (ILT); soft skills and hard skills (related to ML). There are 2–3 classes a week where each class usually lasts for 2 hours. At the end of every soft-skill class, we will be asked to write an essay and finish some multiple-choice questions related to the topics. All tasks are then submitted via Google Classroom.
Cakap Access (English courses)
Bangkit is designed to prepare students with in-demand skills and English skill is no exception. Starting from April, we are given access to Cakap to attend a Business English class twice a week.
There are 25 sessions (50 minutes/session) and 1 final exam in total. In my case, the class felt so private as there were only 5–7 students in it.
Guest speaker session
As we may get overwhelmed with all the assignments and deadlines, guest speaker session comes into the picture. In this event, practitioners give talks about current trends in tech and self-development. They shared about how it feels to work at startups vs established tech giants, how to define a personal vision, how to take control of ourselves, etc. We are also free to ask questions thru slido.
Commemorating the International Women’s Day
International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. To also take part in celebrating this special day, Bangkit arranged a series of events until early April and had women leaders speaking about their experience working in this male-dominated industry.
Picture above was definitely my most favorite talk session. Nicole’s love for education brought her to land jobs in the tech industry. She reminded us that there is no need to feel like a misfit in this field, even if you come from a non-IT background.
There is also another session called #IamRemarkable. It is a Google initiative empowering women and other underrepresented groups to celebrate their achievement in the workplace and beyond. During this session, I remembered the mentor asked us to write down our achievements.
“I am remarkable, because…”, that’s the beginning of the speech she wanted to hear from us as we took turns to speak. The whole session truly did provide us an encouraging atmosphere.
Capstone project support
We began working on the capstone/final project in April. We are given the freedom to choose the team members by ourselves. However, if we don’t want it, another option is that the Bangkit team would randomly divide us into a group of 6–7.
The project needs to utilize at least components of all three learning paths in Bangkit and its themes should refer to 7 Tema dan Agenda Pembangunan at Rencana Pembangunan Jangka Menengah Nasional (RPJMN) 2020–2024 and 5 Area Prioritas at Strategi Nasional Kecerdasan Artifisial.
As the project will mostly run in the cloud, a Google Cloud Platform (GCP) credits voucher worth $200 USD will be given so that we could use its services.
A mentor is assigned to each of the teams. She/he will guide the team throughout the project making.
We could also get funding worth $5000 USD for this project as long as our team reaches the top 15.
Stanford’s University Innovation Fellows
Bangkit will nominate some of their students to join University Innovation Fellows (UIF), a program of Stanford University’s Hasso Plattner Institute of Design (d.school) which aims to empower students to become agents of change at their school. The chosen ones will be trained by the UIF leaders for 6-weeks to conduct in-depth analyses of their home university ecosystems. They will need to develop unique projects that address needs at their schools by utilizing the provided tools and resources.
After training, they will receive a year-round mentorship. For those who are able to make an impact out of the project, will be invited to the Silicon Valley Meetup in March.
Google Certification
It always feels nice to get recognized for our skills. Students who meet the requirement for graduation will be given the opportunity to take the Google certification exam for free.
MD graduates get voucher for Google Associate Android Developer certification exam, TensorFlow Developer certification exam for ML grads, and Google Associate Cloud Engineer certification exam for CC grads.
Official merchandise
At the end of the program, we will be given points to redeem Bangkit’s official merchandise (swags). The amount of points may vary for each student as it depends on how well we perform during the program. It is said they will ship the items by August. I can’t wait to receive mine!
At the closing event of Bangkit, it was announced that 2,250 students are graduating (including me), Alhamdulillah!
The whole experience is definitely invaluable.
This program exposed me to the real world of the tech industry so I do think it’s an opportunity you should never miss out!
It is said that Bangkit 2022 will be announced a little bit later! So, you better prepare yourself for it!
