2022
Soon enough, I started to notice some issues with businesses, including work hours and exact locations, as well as out-dated businesses that closed long time ago and still listed on the maps. My trust of the maps was shaked and I assumed that Google was just not giving it enough attention. However, I continued to use it mainly for directions through navigation with some cautious.
Time passed and Google Maps was doing just fine for me to get me around familiar places. One day, a friend of mine refereed Google Map Maker to me, after we had a discussion about some out-dated road that has be changed but still exists on the map. I checked it out for a while but it was just too complicated for me and the review process took ages.
Prior to September last year, I noticed some tweets on Twitter by account called "Local Guides" and I started to follow it for the beautiful photos it usually posted from around the world while just assuming it was part of Google team not a public contribution program. And then the account started to tweet extensively about Local Guide Summit and I got interested so I started to look closely and found that that these wonderful people are all volunteers. I read more about the program and decided to join.
I was inspired by the collection of people gathered sharing one main goal, which is helping others to find their ways around with updated information. I really believed they are my hidden online heroes, I could relate and appreciate what they do and I wanted to be one of them. I want to help others like me who relay on Google Maps daily to move around and I wanted to give them good reviews and descriptive photos about the place they're about to visit.
I started slow at first, worrying whether my posts are good enough and with time, I started to gain confidence about my work and felt the responsibility to share my knowledge with others. At the beginning, I didn't even give my level status any attention and I was just doing it for the cause. When I hit Level 4 I discovered the benefits offered by the program and immoderately applied for my free storage promo, only to find that I was one of the last people getting this offer and it was due to end in the next few days 😄
I read more about the benefits and read about the eligibility to apply for summit, and just knowing that I am close enough to apply to such an event was a big honor for me. I continued doing my best and reached Level 5 in late March of this year and here I am proudly applying for the LOCAL GUIDE SUMMIT 17!!
By applying, I intend to send a direct message to all women especially in Middle East that you can benefit society and you can compete in the field despite what everyone else think. You can be useful and you can still find some time to help your community even if you study something like engineering or medicine.
I hope I can meet every single person from LG community and thank them personally for being there for everyone. Local Guides, WE ROCK.
Google, and Local Guides team, Thank you for listening to us!
