At the end of July, the second edition of Challenge Accepted took place. Another group of students went through a lesson essential to their future career: the lesson of “here and now”. Guided by curiosity and passion, they diligently followed every chapter: becoming aware of the difficulties, the ambition to push past their limits, thorough preparation, the fear of giving up, the victory of “I won't give up”, hours of work, gallons of coffee…
The result? 6 simple ideas became 6 applications.
And the responsibility, the motivation, the effort? They brought the students one step closer to their dream career.
“It's very important to get past a few milestones and feel that it was hard. But if you manage to get past those points, they stay with you as milestones. That's what Challenge Accepted represents: the milestone at the start of your professional life, as IT people.”
The Jury
They choose quality, professionalism, and high standards. They are mentors who guide the students step by step, and reveal important details from behind the scenes of the IT industry. They are Relu, Sebi, Ioana, Răzvan, and Sorin. They believe in building a career through hard work, body and mind alike, just as they believe in success earned through effort. Through the lens of their long experience in IT, they judged the results of the 6 teams who presented their projects on Saturday, July 30.
“It's very important to get past a few milestones and feel that it was hard. But if you manage to get past those points, they stay with you as milestones. Every time another difficult moment comes up, you'll say: <<If I managed to do it then, I'll manage to do it now too>>. That's what Challenge Accepted represents: a milestone at the start of your professional life, as IT people. Congratulations on what you've achieved, and keep going at least as strong!”
– Sorin Stan, founder of Informal School of IT and initiator of the Challenge Accepted project.
“I learned many interesting things, I didn't even think I'd make it this far. If I were to start over, what would I do differently? I'd get more involved. 25 out of 24!”
The Participants
The desire to try something different takes not just curiosity, but a lot of courage too. Most of the students enrolled in Informal School of IT's study programs to change the career they had built over the years. But they have something extra:
energy, dynamism, a passion for technology.
“The team's energy gave the project its own dynamic. Our team included people who mostly come from fields with no connection to IT at all. Almost all of them with full-time jobs. So the effort and sacrifice they put in was extraordinary”.
– Aurora, Project Manager and Business Analyst on team no. 2
“Every second was very valuable. There were over 150 hours of development”
The Projects
The members of the 6 implementation teams set out with a shared goal: to bring their project ideas to a proof-of-concept stage. The ideas were based on team spirit, everyone's professional background, and their personal passions.
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Best of luck to all participants in continuing these initiatives! We're proud of you!
Do you want to go through a similar experience too?
Projects within interdisciplinary teams are part of Informal School of IT's standard curriculum.
INTRODUCTION, TRAINING, AND SPECIALIZATION IN IT
