Add Nashwan's testimonial

_posts/2016-01-14-no-title.md

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+---
+layout: post
+section-type: post
+title: "Cloudbase LABS through the eyes of a former participant!"
+data: "blog"
+category: "testimonial"
+tags: [ "iasi", "timisoara", "testimonial" ]
+---
+
+Today we want to share with you the experience of [Nashwan](https://github.com/aznashwan), a Cloud Engineer at [Cloudbase Solutions](https://cloudbase.it/) and a former applicant of our workshops from the [LigaAC LABS](https://labs.ligaac.ro/) project.
+
+LigaAC LABS is a project organised by the computer science student organization from the "Polytechnic University of Timișoara” ([LigaAC](https://ligaac.ro/)). We partnered with them in 2014 and [CloudbaseLABS](http://labs.cloudbase.it/) was born. We partnered again in 2015 and received great feedback from the students who applied and attended our workshops. 
+
+We realized the added value that a project like this has for students, so we decided then to organize training workshops like this wherever possible in the country. CloudbaseLABS in Iași is the result of this endeavour. With an office opened here in 2014, Iași was definitely the first on the list. So, here we are with a little less than two weeks in which you can [apply](http://labs.cloudbase.it/iasi/#apply-now) for the project and we want to share with you how a student such as yourself experienced the project in Timișoara. 
+
+Here it is, CloudbaseLABS through the eyes of Nashwan:
+
+
+> So, how was CloudbaseLABS, you ask?
+>
+> Unfortunately I cannot provide a detailed testimonial as my memory is generally comparable to that of your average retarded gold fish. I am, however, more than able to provide some of the general impressions which have stuck with me forever, and why I think you have a lot to learn about the cloud in a program such  as this.
+>
+> Firstly, I'm going to do a quick run through how I ended up in this lab in the first place:
+>
+> I was a 2nd year student, absolutely no professional experience whatsoever (or even an idea of what that might be like, really). The only thing that I can say I had going for me was some baseline Linux experience (and the admiration of the open-source that comes with it) and an absolutely insatiable appetite to learn.
+>
+> I came to the opening ceremony of LABS without any idea what I was doing there, some pretty slick companies came to show off, and about 3 companies in, I had thought I had made up my mind.
+>
+> Then [Alessandro](https://github.com/alexpilotti) (my soon-to-be CEO) stepped up and started talking about Cloudbase. I knew I had found my ideal the second he pronounced the name. I had no idea what a cloud was (and I was sure as hell not convinced that it was just a picture-storing service), and the "open source" and "we've done work for CERN” bits did nothing but inspire me more.
+>
+> I came and took the test with the peace of mind that I had nothing to lose. You see, I had little to no knowledge about networking (which was one of the requirements), almost adequate bash skills (also a requirement), but I did have a knack for Python (a "bonus" requirement), which I had been doing in my spare time and felt I had a good grip on (of course I realised later that I didn't).
+>
+> I don't know what did the trick, but I got an interview for the their lab after the test. The funny thing is that I ended up asking more questions than the interviewers, I was dying to get into their workshop from LABS and find out what all the fuss was about.
+>
+> Now onto the labs themselves:
+>
+> I was very eager about everything, too eager for my own good really. The labs passed much quicker than I had hoped, with every lab seemingly leaving more questions unanswered than otherwise.
+>
+> The guys did a very good job for what they had intended: teach just enough of the enormous amount of information they had to give so as to not make our heads burst, and for them to get home in [roughly] the same day as the lab.
+>
+> Needless to say, no matter how dedicated you are, you can only ever scratch the  surface of cloud computing in ten 4-hour sessions, but I think it was more than a good teaser, and it left me firmly convinced that it was what I wanted.
+>
+> I cannot and will not talk about each lab in turn (goldfish memory issue). I will, however, tell you about the thing that the labs did best for me: and that is to give me just enough of a glimpse into the (for me, glamorous) life of big open source projects and system development, in order for me to fall in love.
+>
+> Soon after the labs ended, I had the honour of being chosen for a 1 month internship (this is where the real learning kicked in, because it was my first time applying theory to practice). Needless to say, I ended up learning more in that month of internship than in any other month of my life.
+>
+> I cannot begin to say how helpful it is to be surrounded by really nice people who know so much more than you, that you get jealous sometimes. What also kicks you into overdrive is working in an environment where:
+>
+> - You can switch between projects, one more challenging than the other, faster than you can change your socks.
+> - Your CEO is not some megalomaniac in a suit which only ever sits and demands work to get done (hell, I am more than used to the idea that our CEO is writing more code a day than all of the rest of us combined).
+> - Your schedule is so flexible, some people never leave the office, whilst others are not even in this country.
+>
+>
+> "I came for the food, I stayed for the people." said Anthony Bourdain on a trip to an island of Borneo.
+>
+> For me this would be more along the lines of: "I came for the challenge, I love the challenge and the people."
+>
+> To those of you thinking of applying, I have these points to make:
+>
+> - Nowhere else will you ever find a more constant and dynamic environment
+> - Nowhere else will you find so many smart people you can look up to
+> - The day you stop learning something in this line of work is the day you retire
+> - There's a higher chance cloud computing will die out that it is for you to have a dull day at Cloudbase
+>
+> If you have what it takes to get in the lab, my only advice is that you lay back and try to learn all you can, there's much more on the way, but the labs will provide a very good basis for your future in cloud computing.
+>
+> Looking forward for you application,
+>
+>Nashwan.
+
+
+We’re also sharing you Nashwan’s GitHub profile, if you are curious on the projects he has worked on and the contributions he has made to open source in the past one and a half years: [github.com/aznashwan](https://github.com/aznashwan).
+
+We’d like to leave you with a final thought of ours. In one year you can achieve lots of things as long as you are passionate enough about them, willing to learn and you love a challenge. From being a student without any previous experience on record to becoming one of the top contributors of major open source projects, the road is closer than you think. 
+
+For you it can start with [CloudbaseLABS @Iași](http://labs.cloudbase.it/iasi/).

blog/testimonial/index.html

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+layout: index
+data: "blog"
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+---
+
+{% include category.html %}

tags/testimonial.html

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+layout: index
+data: "blog"
+tag: testimonial
+permalink: /tags/testimonial/
+---
+
+{% include tag.html %}

tags/timisoara.html

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+tag: timisoara
+permalink: /tags/timisoara/
+---
+
+{% include tag.html %}