This is a submission for the 2024 Hacktoberfest Writing challenge: Contributor Experience

Hacktoberfest 2024 is an experience that was fun in all possible ways - testing as well as rewarding. It was for the first time that I got a chance to work on open source, so technically and otherwise, that makes me a beginner too. This annual fest helped me grow technically as well as personally while going through all the new tools as well as collaboration ways. In this respect, it really helped step into the broad ocean of open source. This Hacktoberfest was the time where I had firsthand experience using Git and GitHub, which really upgraded my skills about dealing with pull requests, solving conflicts, and collaborating with other contributors. I was really terrified to contribute to open-source, but one day I met a fellow guy who works as a software engineer; he encouraged me, forcing me not to think about the consequences of the changes in the code that I'd do. It is the opportunity that he gave me to contribute to the open source community. This experience has indeed helped boost my confidence in my technical skills. Hacktoberfest has taught me how my contributions would make a difference, however small, and thus prompted me to do open source more regularly.
It was really fulfilling because I got to complete the pull requests and see they were accepted. Knowing it would be part of the larger project was amazing, and knowing that even the tiniest contributions can lead to betterment of projects is great. I am proud that I have been a part of this process. Hacktoberfest inspired me to carry on with open source. I learned that there is more to code - it's about collaboration, about communication, and growth in your career. Next year will definitely be filled with different open-source projects that'll challenge me to enhance myself, to learn new aspects, and improve my expertise to know more about technology. Hacktoberfest really really tested me as a coder and as a contributor to this open-source world. I am excited about the future opportunities to contribute and continue on this learning journey of contributing and networking with other tech enthusiasts.