Forem: HARISH K

World-Environment-Action-Day

HARISH K — Sun, 29 Jun 2025 12:50:34 +0000

This is a submission for Frontend Challenge - June Celebrations, Perfect Landing: June Celebrations

What I Built

I created a landing page to highlight World Environment Day. This page includes features like tips for sustainable living, virtual event registrations, and an interactive carbon footprint calculator.

Demo

Experience the live application: Click Here

Journey

Ensuring accessibility with semantic HTML and ARIA roles.
Creating engaging animations using Framer Motion.
Designing an interactive and mobile-friendly user experience.
Using grid layouts to manage content responsively.
Integrating tools like Framer Motion for micro-interactions.
Optimizing for performance and accessibility.

Next Steps
I plan to expand this project by adding a community forum for users to share their sustainable practices and success stories.

Permission is hereby granted, free of charge, to any person obtaining a copy
of this software and associated documentation files (the "Software"), to deal
in the Software without restriction, including without limitation the rights
to use, copy, modify, merge, publish, distribute, sublicense, and/or sell
copies of the Software, and to permit persons to whom the Software is
furnished to do so, subject to the following conditions:

The above copyright notice and this permission notice shall be included in all
copies or substantial portions of the Software.

THANKYOU DEVPOST++

Programmers Life - Debugging 24

HARISH K — Wed, 01 Jan 2025 19:11:16 +0000

Looking Back at 2024: A Year of Change

2024 was full of ups and downs. It felt like fixing a tricky computer program. Each mistake taught me something valuable. As I think about this year, I realize it was not just about what I achieved. It was also about the challenges that made me stronger and more creative.

Big Wins: What Made My Year Special

Learning and Growing This year, I got more into my tech interests. I finished courses like NASA's DART and ISRO's AI/ML for Geo Data Analytics. This helped me understand more about space and how to work with data. These achievements brought me closer to my dream of being part of space research.

I worked on projects like using drones to help with railway safety and the CodeLush project, which focuses on eco-friendly tech solutions. These projects made my work feel meaningful and impactful.

Leading and Working with Others
I helped run Google Developer Groups On Campus. I led my team through workshops and events. We reached Tier 1 in Google Cloud Study Jams and even had a project recognized in the Google Solution Challenge. This showed how hard my team and I worked together.
Recognition
Winning the Community award at the Merge Dev Hackathon and getting a $200 prize was a proud moment for me. It was a real reward for my effort and ability to be creative under pressure.

Challenges: Tackling the Tough Stuff
While I had successes, I also faced some tough times:

Time Management
Balancing school, internships, and my own projects was tricky. I had to learn how to prioritize what was important and make realistic goals.
Self-Doubt
Sometimes, I struggled with feeling like I didn't belong, especially during important moments like the Goldman Sachs interviews. With support from friends and mentors, I learned to trust myself and focus on my strengths.
Team Management
As a leader, it was hard to let go of inactive members from GDGOC. This taught me the value of having a strong and committed team to reach shared goals.

What I Learned: Lessons for the Future
Stay Flexible
This year taught me that plans don’t always work out. But being persistent and adaptable can lead to success.

The Importance of Connections
Working with different teams showed me how valuable relationships are in driving innovation and achieving goals.

Celebrate Small Wins
Every little achievement added to the bigger picture. Recognizing these moments kept me excited and motivated all year.

Wrapping Up: My Growth Story
2024 was more than just a year; it was a test of my skills and mindset. It was a mix of wins and lessons that brought me closer to my goals. As I head into 2025, I take with me the strength and knowledge I gained this year. My journey was not just about hitting milestones; it was about growing as a learner, leader, and dreamer, ready for what’s next.

This is a submission for the 2025 New Year Writing challenge: Retro’ing and Debugging 2024.

My Hacktoberfest 2024 Journey: From First Pull Request to Open Source Growth

HARISH K — Sun, 03 Nov 2024 19:55:16 +0000

Why I Joined Hacktoberfest
I joined Hacktoberfest 2024 because I wanted to dive into open source. Contributing has always seemed daunting, but Hacktoberfest presented the perfect opportunity to jump in, learn, and become a part of the community. My goal was to complete all four pull requests, but more importantly, I wanted to gain confidence navigating open-source projects and collaborating on real-world codebases.

Projects I Contributed To
I worked on three different repositories this Hacktoberfest:

Open Weather API Wrapper: This repository provides a wrapper for OpenWeather's API. I contributed by improving the documentation and fixing a small bug related to city data parsing.

Dev Community Blog Template: I helped add new themes to a blog template project used by developers on Dev.to. Working on this introduced me to design elements in a real project.

JavaScript Algorithm Library: In this repository, I added a new algorithm for calculating prime numbers and optimized an existing sorting algorithm. This was challenging yet incredibly rewarding, as I had to make sure everything was efficient and easy for new users to understand.

Each contribution taught me something new, from improving my JavaScript skills to understanding the importance of clear documentation.

Key Learnings
Hacktoberfest turned out to be much more than I expected. Here are a few takeaways from my experience:

Documentation Matters: I learned how crucial good documentation is. Not only does it make projects easier to use, but it also helps new contributors like me understand where we can contribute.
Collaboration Tools: Git and GitHub can be intimidating, but after making a few PRs, I felt more comfortable. I learned how to fork repositories, create branches, and even resolve merge conflicts.
Open Source Etiquette: Reading and respecting contribution guidelines taught me open-source etiquette. Each project has its own workflow, and following these guidelines is essential for smooth collaboration.

Did I Complete All Four Pull Requests?
Yes! I completed four pull requests and earned my Hacktoberfest T-shirt, which felt like a great accomplishment. Beyond the shirt, though, I connected with other developers and discovered some open-source projects I plan to keep contributing to even after Hacktoberfest.

Advice for Future Contributors
If you’re thinking about joining Hacktoberfest or making your first open-source contribution, here’s what I recommend:

Start Small: Choose beginner-friendly repositories. Look for issues labeled with “good first issue” or “beginner-friendly” to ease into the workflow.

Focus on Documentation and Minor Fixes First: This can be a great way to start and will help you familiarize yourself with the codebase.
Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions: The community is there to help, and most maintainers are open to questions and suggestions from newcomers.
Final Thoughts.

Hacktoberfest 2024 was an empowering experience, and I'm grateful to have had the chance to contribute. Not only did I improve my skills, but I also became a part of a community that shares my passion for technology and collaboration. I can’t wait to continue contributing to open-source projects in the future.