About 6 years ago, at the university where I got my Software Engineering degree, a professor gave my class this advice:
Open a GitHub account, if you don’t have one yet, and start contributing to open source projects.
Then he told us about all the wonders of Open Source and how, thanks to his own contributions, he got an amazing job at a fast-growing startup, Xamarin.
The truth is I didn’t follow this advice. I was just to “busy”, I was already working part-time in a cool startup, I was focused on concluding my degree, and, as hard as it is to accept it, my ego kept me from contributing by convincing myself I was working on very important and innovative stuff, my bright future was waiting and I didn’t have time for Open Source.
Since then, Open Source has been in my mind, I took some reality punches, I stepped down my cloud and realized how much I didn’t know, how much there was to learn, I changed my perspective and realized that Open Source was a world of possibilities for me, endless opportunities to learn from people all around the world while contributing to projects you believe in.
More and more, the urge to contributed continued to grow, I started looking projects for a possible first contribution for a LONG time, sometimes feeling encouraged, other times a bit scared about not being good enough, and finally last year, I tear down the fears and insecurities that were keeping me from contributing and I made my first tiny open source contribution. It felt great!
Right now I’m actively contributing to a few projects and I’ve open sourced some personal projects. The truth is I wish I’d started when I first received my professor’s advice but better now than never, right?
This is how my GitHub profile looks right now, I’m committed to seeing it a lot more greener a year from now and the truth is I can’t feel more excited about the places where Open Source will take me.
