Inspiration
We wanted to set up a website that would aid in connecting students to mentors in the field, but felt that too many programs and existing organizations already do this. We also felt that not enough of these programs/organizations took the mentees perspective into enough consideration. For example, potential mentees would feel a lot more comfortable with mentors who come from similar backgrounds: mentors should have a similar ethnicity or race, economic background, and geographical area. Emphasis will be put on those from underprivileged backgrounds or minority groups. They will utilize the site to start building strong roots of a tree that will later become a display of their entire lineage from start to finish.
What it does
This program creates a lineage that stimulates growth through real-life connections in order to enhance their chances of a successful career. By building a foundation and connection with someone of similar circumstance, students will have a sense of belonging and will feel empowered and motivated to reach for their dreams. To start with, students with possible interests in STEM will visit the site, create their account, take a quiz, and be matched with a possible junior mentor. They are matched based on personality traits, academic skills, current education status, and financial standing if available. Once their interest solidifies to a more specific area, they will be matched with a senior mentor in that field. The senior mentor will answer any related questions and help them make better choices to reach their goals.
How we built it
We used Git Hub to create a repository, and also to assign tasks that needed to be done ASAP as they are essential to have for the demo. Then we made sure to assign two back-end developers, one front-end developer and one researcher to make an efficient team, since we were going to be implementing everything using Firebase.
We used a sprinkle of JS throughout, and afterwards, used Firebase to create the necessary pages for the demo. All the while, back-end developers figured out how to work Firebase. In the final stretch, some visual aspects of the website were sacrificed to be cohesive with the back-end. Thus, this demo was born.
Challenges we ran into
Q: How do we make Project Lineage unique?
A: We customize it as much as possible to get a mentor-mentee match made in heaven with both academic peer-to-peer and business mentoring. This means that a mentee can receive two mentors; the first is a student in the field of study and the second is someone who works in the field of interest. This then allows for a 'lineage' to be in place, for the student to follow their interest further to a mentor who can give them answers to any questions about 'the real world'. The student mentor will tell them what to expect academically, as well as what to do to make it fun and exciting!
Accomplishments that we're proud of
This was our first time using Firebase and we are proud to say that despite an initial rough start, we made it! This was a great introduction to a functional demos instead of prototyping.
What we learned
We learned how to use Firebase as a non-SQL as well as how to develop ideas further to make ourselves 'unique'. We also learned that scraping work in the middle of a project doesn't necessarily mean failure. It motivates you, and you learn how far you will go to finish.
What's next for Project Lineage
Maybe some real world testing?
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