Before diving into my journey for those who don't know me. Hi, great to see you here. I am Rohit Purkait currently in my 3rd year reading Electrical Engineering in Techno Main Salt Lake and also doing BS degree in Data Science from Indian Institute of Technology Madras. By reading this far I think you have guessed already that I am not so sure about what I am doing because of my choices of degrees but one thing I am always sure about is the experience and fun you get when you try new things. My journey to become a Postman Student Expert and then a Leader was no less than an exciting trip. It was fun and jam packed with experiences. So, lets unravel that one by one.

In this segment I will be answering some of the most asked questions from my batchmates and my juniors and these questions basically sums up my entire journey.

1) How did I came to know about this program?

So, one day while scrolling through LinkedIn I came across a post where some swags were shown with a badge saying "Postman Student Leader" but rather than the swags, what caught my eyes was the caption where the person mentioned about the fun he had while hosting events with Postman and the new things he got to learn. So, this inspired me and I thought to myself "Let's give this new experience a try." At that time I didn't knew a lot about API's, I also didn't used Postman a lot either so, applying for the Postman Student Expert was completely a new thing for me. But will all the fears I still went on ahead and applied and now I am grateful because of that.

Lesson learned: Just try out new things with your 100%, there's nothing to lose and everything to gain.

2) What was my motive going in?

If I say that I was not at all interested in getting the swags then I would be lying. Yes, I was a little bit interested in the swags but the thing that interested me the most is the excitement of trying new things and getting to know more about API's. I believe because of this motive of experiencing the journey rather than focusing on the things I will get at the end of the journey is what kept me going.

Lesson learned: Focus more on the journey rather than the end result.

3) How did I approach the Postman Student Expert course?

Previously I did a lot of courses on a lot of different stuffs but I left most of the things midway. But to my surprise the way this Postman Student Expert course is designed is very suitable for beginners. The concepts are explained well, you get to try hands on and test out the API's. You get instant results which gives you a sense of accomplishment. Overall, the course is very well structured. But one thing that helped me through this course was I went into this course with a blank slate. I tried to forget everything I learned in the past because I wanted everything to feel new. At the end of the course, I am happy to say that my blank slate was filled with information.

Lesson learned: Approach new things with an open slate with the intention of filling it with information

4) How did I hosted my first event?

Before going into the details about the events, let's give you guys the basic context. So, after becoming a Postman Student Expert, one needs to apply for becoming the Postman Student Leader and if your application is shortlisted, you are given the opportunity to host an event ( online or offline ) and if everything goes well then you are selected to become Postman Student Leader.

Now coming back to how I hosted the event. For those who don't know, I fear public speaking more than anything in the world. I still remember the day when I froze up in the stage while reciting a poem and my legs started shaking. I still remember all those faces laughing at me like I am a clown. And after all these years here I am with the opportunity to become something but it will only come if I overcame my greatest fear. But as I always say "there's nothing to lose and everything to gain". So, with these idea in my head I prepared myself for the worst which would be " I will forget everything in the middle of the presentation and all the attendees would laugh at me ". But fortunately nothing of that sort happened, I successfully hosted my first event which was about "Introduction to API's" in front of 60+ people and it went smooth. Now, I am a lot more confident about public speaking, in fact I lookout for opportunities where I get to speak with a lot of people.

Lesson learned: Don't run away from fears, learn to tackle them.

5) How was the feeling at the end?

The day when I received my mail saying that I have became a Postman Student Leader, my heart was filled with joy. I was proud of myself not because I achieved the title but I overcame one of my greatest fears and I didn't run away from it like I used to. But again "From every ending starts a new beginning" so, my new journey has just started and I hope to continue to overcome my fears and I would really love if everyone supports me in this journey by overcoming their fears as well.

Lesson learned: The feeling of success after overcoming a fear is the greatest in the world.

I know, I know, I have ranted a lot and most of you guys have left by now. But for the ones who are still with me, comment down and share your stories about overcoming some of your fears as well. And for those of you who are interested to become Postman Student Expert and a Postman Student Leader, here are the links which will help you start your journey:

1) Learning Center: learning.postman.com
2) API Network: explore.postman.com
2) Forum: community.postman.com
Become a Postman Student Expert by applying here: https://bit.ly/postman-student-program
For further information you can join us on discord : https://discord.gg/Kxvyvfjdk4

Best of luck for your journey and if you need any kind of support feel free to reach me:

Mail me: rohitpurkait001@gmail.com
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/codeswithroh/

My journey of becoming "Postman Student Leader"