Mentoring Google Summer of Code. Is it worth it?

If you know about Google Summer of Code or identify yourself as a participant in the program, this post is for you. In case you don’t know what GSoC is, you can read about it here and then come back to read.

“What are the benefits of being a GSoC mentor”, “How much does a mentor get paid for participation?”

These kinds of questions are quite common among students and even working professionals as we seek value and need motivation for the work we do. So, let’s see what GSoC offer to mentors:

1. Developer swags: As a developer, the shiny stickers, T-shirt with Google logo, is what every dev wants, and some open source orgs also send cool swags to mentors. But, should you participate as a mentor just for this? A BIG NO!
2. Participation in GSoC mentor summit: Google annually organizes this summit in the US or Europe, and invites 1–2 people from each org to participate. So, it’s tough that you’d be that mentor to get the chance but there is probability though very less as open source org admins might want to represent, and so on. So, drop this point if you’re planning to act as a mentor, just for the “free” trip.
3. Mentorship Certificate: C’mon, it’s 2021, not worth it if you’re just doing it for a certificate.
4. Creating a great experience for student: GSoC is not just a 3-month project for students, but it’s equally your project and as a mentor, you’ll have a chance to build a great internship experience for the student, an experience full of learning, code, and fun — isn’t it beautiful?
   Getting code in your organization’s project is a nice side effect, as the objective is to introduce students to Open source and create long-term contributors.
5. Mentorship experience: Being a GSoC mentor brings a lot of responsibility as you’re expected to collaborate with students, review project proposals, revise project plan after selection, track daily/weekly progress, code review, helping students, guiding them, and so on.
   One can use this opportunity to hone their mentorship skills and learn from the fresh minds of students. Working closely with students, and other mentors will also help you learn more about the software design process, project planning, product management, becoming effective communicators, and so on.
6. For the love of Open Source: Donated time is the lifeblood of open source projects. Many individuals contribute their time and energy without any expectation of compensation or even a simple “thank you” in return.
   If you’re a former GSoC intern, chances that your mentor volunteered to share their knowledge with you that last time. So, this is the time! time to give back to the open source community, and more than that to mentor someone for a great future.

In case you planned to become a mentor just for the top 3 benefits of the certificate, swags, etc, and can’t contribute the minimum required time for mentorship, I would highly suggest not to participate.

Also, take mentorship as per your bandwidth, it’s great to start with mentoring 1 student effectively (highly recommended if you’re a first-time mentor), and then mentor more students in subsequent years.

Being a GSoC mentor comes with a lot of responsibilities, and it’s up to you how great an experience you can create for the students as well as for yourself.

I think, mentoring GSoC is an awesome opportunity and once in a lifetime experience, I hope you think so too :D

Wishing you a very happy summer of code!

Reference: https://google.github.io/gsocguides/mentor/mind-the-gap