Build System stories from past Travel Assistance Recipients ¶

This is part of our series of stories from past ApacheCon and Apache Big Data attendees whom the Apache Travel Assistance committee helped be at the event. To learn more about TAC, visit the main TAC page. For more stories, see the TAC stories index page.

Dammina Sahabandu ¶

What’s your name?

Dammina

What Apache project are you involved in?

Apache Bloodhound

Were you a student/academic at the time of ApacheCon?

I was a student at that time

Where in the world are you from?

Matara, Sri Lanka.

What would you say to someone thinking of applying to TAC for the first time?

If you are a first timer you should never hesitate, because you have the highest chance of getting accepted. And let me tell you, if you are worried because you have never traveled alone before, please don’t be, because when I applied for tac I was a terrified kid who had never traveled out of the country. Trust me, our dearest travel assistance committee guided me through each and every single step to get me over there. So please don’t think twice: this might be the biggest opportunity that you’ll get in your life.

How did TAC and ApacheCon change your involvement in Apache?

Only after ApacheCon I understood the real power of Apache. For me, before ApacheCon, it was just a group of geeks who try to write awesome code to make the world a better place, but now I feel like I’m a member of a huge family that cares very much for each other. It was like, what it seems to be a code base become home for me and now I’m not just trying to improve the code base, but rather to make the family bigger in every aspect.