The Local Guides program has had a significant and incomparable influence on me since I first got involved. Though I do a lot of contributions, I get much more from the program which I didn’t expect. To me, it means self-enhancement. Here’s my story.
I applied for Connect Live 2019 last year this time when I first reached level 5. It was a challenge for me because my mother language is not English and I had to write a post, share a list, record a video and fill in the forms all in English. I did a lot of hard work for the application. I spent much time on conceiving a stand-out post, list and video and modified them over and over. When I got the “You’re in” email, I was so thrilled. Then I told my parents I would go to USA to attend an event for free, they couldn’t believe it. They thought it might be a trick or something because they had never heard of this kind of things and didn’t know what Google was. I spent a lot of time convincing them to let me go.
As I was able to attend Connect Live 2019, I was about to meet other local guides and communicate with them. To be honest, I was a very shy guy who talked little even with my friends in my mother language. But when I met many other local guides, I found they are all nice people.Though we are from different corners of the world, we share the same enthusiasm of being local guides. They helped me a lot on leaving my shyness behind. I was completely relieved. For the first time I talked so much and shared my stories with so many people I just met. This was absolutely a big break for me.
And beside this, I learned a lot from Googlers during the event. My favorite part is the workshop of Capturing San Jose on Camera. I learned that I had to consider timing, angle and combination of different subjects before taking a good photo. These tips helped me a lot improve my photography skill. Those days are like a sweet and vivid dream. I experienced a lot of things for the first time in my life which I will remember forever. I can’t thank Google enough for making Local Guides program possible and giving me the opportunity of being a better person. I wish I can participate in the event this year to further enhance myself.
By the way, as I went back home from Connect Live 2019 safe and sound, my parents finally got to know what local guide was and they were happy with what I had experienced.