Wrap-up: All about my journey to Outreachy
Hello,
I am back with another blog, and this one gets late because I was in procrastination mode.
I can’t believe that I am writing my Outreachy wrap-up post. It really went fast! I still remember the day when I first heard about Outreachy. And after knowing what it is, I was quite intimidated and was like “Ah, I can never crack it”.
While writing this blog, the memories of when I first started are revolving around me. So today I am going to write that and will introduce the people who helped me along the way.
So, here’s the summary of my journey to Outreachy.
I first heard about Outreachy from my brother, Gagan, last September. But I had other things keeping me busy at that time so didn’t pay that much attention to it. It was in the last December when I got serious about Outreachy and planned to give it a try. I was familiar with GitHub and git but I never worked in an open-source environment. So to get familiar with it too, I planned to contribute to an open-source project.
I was more into Python so I started looking for a python based project. After searching for a while I ended up on the Apache Airflow GitHub page and I really liked the way they managed everything all in one place. I started by looking at some good-first issues and created my first ever PR. That feeling of your PR getting merged especially your first PR, made me more confident and more serious about Outreachy.
After that, I managed to get a few more PR merged. Finally, Outreachy initial application opened in February. I submitted my initial application one or two days before the deadline. ( Please don’t perform this stunt)
I submitted it at the last moment because I was not confident. But I am glad that finally, I managed to write my heart out. But it won’t be possible without someone who guided me in the right direction when I was super confused. Thank you Tania Batieva for helping me out, that really meant a lot to me and I will continue this chain of guidance to the future Outreachy applicants because I know one single reply from our side can mean a lot to someone.
After that my initial application got shortlisted and so was the beginning of the real challenge “The Contribution Period”. A lot happened, but I only knew one thing that I have to give my best.
Out of all the projects, In the beginning, I only chose two projects of my interest because I didn’t want to distribute my time and focus. After some time, I had decided to redirect my focus to one project only that was of Apache. And it turned out to be the right decision.
The contribution period itself was the learning phase for me. The community was very helpful to let us get started, especially Jiri Daněk, I managed to merge three PRs in the contribution period and it won’t be possible without him.
When I received an acceptance email from Outreachy, it was like a dream come true. Yep, I was quite restless that day. But to be honest, somewhere deep down, that day I knew that I will gonna make it, for sure.
So, I was in. After that, my project tasks looked intimidating to me, but when I started working and took one step at a time, I was able to tackle all of them one by one. And I didn’t even notice when I reached the last task. I manage to complete my main task but there is still some hope of improvements in it before it gets merged. I will continue contributing to it in my spare time.
One fear that I always had was “Will I be able to make it to the end? and I am glad that fear does not turn out to be true.
But all this won’t be possible without my mentor.
I really appreciate the support and time that he gave me in spite of his busy schedule and the way he organized everything so that it would be easier for me to get guidance in his absence too. He scheduled meetings and office hours with other team members and they were just one message away.
Our time zones are almost 10 hours apart. He used to do meetings at his 7 am. For someone like me, who is a night owl, it looks quite early in the morning. I never asked but I really hope meetings at 7 am are normal to him.
I also get to expand my network during the internship and get to know many people.
I don’t know what the future holds but I know that Outreachy indeed has added some value to my professional life.
And finally, I would like to thank Justin Ross(My mentor), Andrew stitcher, Jiri Daněk, and Robbie Gemmell for guiding me throughout the internship. The last three months were the most amazing moment of my life. I got to learn many new things from each one of them.
I would love to continue contributing to Qpid and I will definitely.
Thank you for reading and have a nice day!
Published
Originally published at http://rakhiroriya.wordpress.com on August 29, 2021.
