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

This year, I participated in Hacktoberfest for the first time, and I can’t describe how excited I was. After already contributing as a maintainer for my project, CampX, I wanted to dive into the other side of open source: being a contributor. The enthusiasm I had was sky-high! I was constantly looking forward to discovering new projects, contributing to them, and immersing myself in the vibrant world of open-source development.

The Highs 🌟
Hacktoberfest turned out to be an incredible way to learn about various open-source communities.I encountered numerous projects that used different technologies, many of which I hadn’t even heard of before. I took the time to thoroughly read about each project, and even when I didn’t have the specific knowledge to contribute, I still learned a lot. It was eye-opening to realize how many technologies, tools, and ideas are out there in the open-source world.

I also managed to complete my four PR merges successfully, which felt like a real accomplishment. Claiming all my Holopin badges was a proud moment, and I made sure to embed my Holopin dashboard on my GitHub profile to show off what I had achieved.

The Lows 💡

However, it wasn’t without its challenges. One of the biggest frustrations I encountered was when I created issues in a project, but before they were even assigned to me, someone else would mention the same issue and submit a PR. It was a bit disheartening at times, but I realized that this is just part of the open-source experience, and I learned to be quicker and more proactive in claiming issues.

Balancing the Highs and Lows ⚖️

As I’ve said before, everything has its highs and lows. If there were no ups and downs in your ECG, it would mean you're not alive. Open source is a living, breathing world, and these experiences only helped me grow as a developer and contributor.

Conclusion
I am genuinely happy with my first Hacktoberfest experience as a contributor. I learned a lot, connected with amazing projects, and even though there were a few bumps along the way, the overall experience was incredibly rewarding. I can't wait until next October for the next edition of Hacktoberfest!

Let’s keep going, Open Source!

Feel free to connect with me and check out my other work:

LinkedIn: Vignesh J
GitHub (Personal): Vignesh025
GitHub Organization (VigneshDevHub): VigneshDevHub
Join our Open-Source Community on Discord: VigneshDevHub

Looking forward to your support!