Hi!, it's been a few weeks since my last article and it has been a lot! from starting a role as an intern in Outreachy working on the ChRIS project to trying to enjoy my holidays without thinking too much about work. This internship has taught me things about myself that I never would have known and I am barely a month in. Let's go through some of them starting with my application.

Outreachy Application Process.

I first learned about Outreachy 2020 and after a lot of research found it delightful! I started the application process and was a bit shocked about how much about my tech journey I had to share, questions like how much the people and communities around me had influenced and helped me on my journey made me shed literal tears. I was reminded about how people sacrificed so much of their time and resources to ensure I succeed, I was also reminded about the people who made me feel less than and unsure about my place in my career, I felt vulnerable exposing my strengths and weaknesses but still it caused me to appreciate a lot about myself.

I finished the application process and began the waiting game hoping that my life was interesting enough for Outreachy to invest in. A few weeks later I got my mail!. I was excited and looking towards contributing and learning more about open source and the various projects in it.

Outreachy Contribution Process.

I attempted my contribution phase a total of 3 times.

Trial 1.

I was accepted! I have no idea what open source was but was excited to learn, I went through the list of projects available to see what spiked my interest, and I selected a project that seem easy enough that a beginner like me can attempt. I joined the Zulip group and introduced myself and headed over to the GitHub issues to check out the projects available. They all looked complex and I freaked out a bit and went back to the chat forum to see if I can get some clarity about the tasks only to meet about 40 more introductions with some going as far as linking their other projects. That was all it took.

" I can't do this! I don't even understand the task, there are so many pro applicants! "

Trial 2.

I was accepted again! I was ready to attempt this time, I selected another project a CEPH project, super excited to contribute to this. I introduced myself in the slack channel, researched more about the project, and checked out the GitHub repo, no idea what was happening there but I wasn't giving up just yet. so many people on the channel but I persevere. Time to run the project locally, and a Linux distro/macOS was recommended I got my Windows Subsystem for Linux(WSL) booted up, it was time to run this make.sh file. At that moment, my laptop decided to identify as a heater instead. It got so hot I felt like it was going to blow up any second!

" I do not have a strong enough laptop to do this! The project is too heavy there is no way I could contribute!"

Trial 3.

I got into the contribution stage once more and this time I made sure to do a bit of laptop upgrade, learned how to make contributions to open source and go into it with the "all or nothing" mindset. I had decided that this was the last trial so I wanted to make sure I try my possible best. I was ready to fully change my laptop's Operating System if it called for it, try to make at least 3 contributions, and pick at least 2 projects to contribute to. I was successful in creating a dev environment for the ChRIS project and made it my mission to assist as many people as I could because it felt like a huge accomplishment for me. Now the actual contribution was something else I had to learn and unlearn so much that I spent hours figuring out solutions and got some surprises where some issues I thought were easy turned out to be the bane of my existence! I had so much fun, made new friends, cried, and celebrated when I figured things out! it did help that my mentor was extremely helpful and constantly motivated us during the times when I felt I wasn't doing a good job. I got the acceptance mail a few weeks later.

"I can't believe I did it!"

First few weeks at ChRIS.

My first meeting was the very description of imposter syndrome! here I was in this zoom call with people so awesome I felt like a child! It was so cool and nerve-racking at the same time, Remember everything I said about the contribution stage and how difficult it felt? well, forget that. Contributing my code to this complex and experienced codebase is like trying to use a band-aid to fix an earthquake! I am supposed to improve the search engine functionality of the API but all I keep thinking about is how I can be as good as the person that wrote the current API in the first place! While all these may sound so gloomy I am having the time of my life! I have this awesome mentor who is patient with me and constantly strives to make me the best developer I can be while providing support on my tasks. Gradually I am building and improving and while I may struggle I still strive to move forward as no growth is possible without a little inconvenience.

"Human progress is neither automatic nor inevitable... Every step toward the goal of justice requires sacrifice, suffering, and struggle; the tireless exertions and passionate concern of dedicated individuals."

Martin Luther King, Jr.