The journey from being a noob in Open Source to getting into Google Summer of Code

After I posted regarding my selection in Google Summer of Code’22, I was flooded with curious DMs and some mails as well. I understand that it’s a normal thing to show curiosity regarding this topic as I also did the same with my senior. So yeah, we are the same bro!!

If you want to know how all things started, I would just request you to go through the whole article and I am sure you would get most of the doubts cleared:)

Just to give context if you are new here.

I recently got selected as a Google Summer of Code’22 mentee under the SCoRELab organization for the CodeLabz project.

My Journey of Open Source

I was knowing some people through LinkedIn and CodeXCrypt community who were into open source development. I was pretty confused about what all it takes to do some great things like this?? (There is a long way to go but I was a complete noob at that time) Back in the start of 2021, I took the help of those people and tried to understand all the chaos.

My mind was completely blown and I thought I would be never able to do this thing alongside my ongoing internship, I tried to research more and left the thought of doing open source contributions after some days. I could send 2 PRs at that time but 1 maintainer said that my contribution is good to have for the project but does not look like the necessary thing. The maintainer just closed the PR but I reacted like it closed doors for me in open source. I was doubting for myself if this is the right path for me or not!! I left open-source there and started focusing on my internship.

But God has another plan for me. Fast forward to August 2021, I got to know that one senior from my college got selected for GSoC’21. It reminded me of my phobia of Open Source. But this time, My mind and heart were pushing me toward starting Open Source for 2nd time. I had no clue whether I would be able to give my best or not but there was a strong urge from my inner self to try out. I did not start with the intention of getting into GSoC because I was not counting myself worthy enough. Still, I started because I was having a genuine interest in doing something that can create an impact due to the work I was doing in my internship.

I again started talking with some friends and my senior regarding how to start doing meaningful contributions to Open Source. My senior and friends from the CodeXCrypt community and LinkedIn helped me a lot. I started with some basic contributions during Hackoctorberfest but that too did not get merged. I give myself a break to understand things in a better way, and tried to watch some YouTube tutorials, podcasts, blogs, etc. Then by the end of November, I once reached to Google Summer of Code website as per the information I got from various sources. I thought to give GSoC a shot even if I was not understanding some things properly.

My Journey to Google Summer of Code’22

There were 2 clear results: Selections and Rejection. But without thinking about results, I thought about positive outcomes. Even if I would get rejected I would have some kind of exposure, some good contributions, and a better GitHub profile. I started searching for organizations, I ended up listing some organizations in a sheet. I tried to sort and filter according to tech stack, area of interest, and a number of projects.

I forked some of the projects and completed the setup. It took me some time to understand the codebase. After failing in many attempts, this time I decided to not give up. I started looking at open issues. Tried to understand how things work within the organizations. I pinged people on the community channels to seek help. People were undoubtedly supportive but sometimes I had to wait for many days to get a reply and I waited happily.

I was so sure about my interest in the CodeLabz project and by the time I could understand most of the things from their codebase. I started creating issues and sending PRs.

I was struggling to be consistent as I was doing a full-time internship at DPS Germany from January 2022 to April 2022. It was a peak time for GSoC. I had to manage college exams, contributions, and full-time internships, too. I thought to give up many times but instead of giving up I took small breaks, and it worked for me. These some days’ breaks helped me to get back with more energy.

The twist came when in the month of March, I joined the Slack channel for Moja Global. I was not having much time left to contribute for GSoC at Moja Global but the mentor proved to be so helpful here. I put my efforts to understand their projects and scopes. I picked up the FLINT-UI project for contribution but the main frontend technology used in the project was Vue2. I was a complete newbie to it still I thought to learn it alongside! I started contributing to the project and one of my mentors got impressed by my eye for the details based on PRs, she made me a member of the UI working group and I was on the cloud 9:)))) It made me believe that yes I can do something worthy. I continued to contribute to the FLINT-UI project. I also helped some beginner contributors by creating good first issues to work on.

Now I was contributing to 2 organizations, 1)SCoRELab and 2)Moja-Global. Day by day, I started believing that I should get selected for 1 of their projects, and in the worst case if I do not get selected I would have a good GitHub profile and the option to contribute would be always open for me.

Orgs had already declared their project idealist, so I chose the FLINT-UI project for Moja-Global and React-Email and CodeLabz projects of SCoReLab. For the CodeLabz project, I have to do a Pre-GSoC task and it was about designing the website in Figma, implementing code, and designing a Storybook. I did the design in Figma for the first time alongside contributing and doing the internship. For Moja-Global I completed the pre-GSoC task of sharing findings of FLINT-UI, creating a list of the components to be developed during the GSoC period, and creating some basic designs. By doing all these things I could align myself with my mentor’s expectations from the project.

The time came when we all have to create a proposal with the project ideas, contributions, and some other things. I was quite frustrated as I was not ready with the Pre-GSoC task of Codelabz and my exams were going on at the same time. In the time frame of 15 days, I had a couple of tasks to do like creating proposals for 3 projects, taking feedback, iterating the proposals as per feedback, and most importantly creating a working prototype for CodeLabz. I pushed myself hard and submitted the proposal before the deadline.

Now I felt relaxed but yet there is a long wait of getting the result. I continued to contribute to the projects and finally, the day came when I along with my family was waiting for the mail. Due to some glitch, the emails were sent late and I had a lot of anxiety until I saw my name on the GSoC contributors’ page. Finally, The happy moment came!! In the meantime, I traveled through the whole journey and it was still unbelievable for me. I also talked with my mentor of Moja-Global and understood what went wrong! I got positive feedback regarding my contributions and I was satisfied with his decision.

Some Points I would like to mention here,

1. Start as Early as Possible: I started early and so I was able to give enough time to understand things, try out different projects and organizations.
2. List out more than one organization: You should consider this because you can’t be sure about the selection of the organization in the upcoming GSoC.
3. After the declaration of organizations by Google, only stick to 1–2 orgs: Once Google declares the final list of organizations, try to do consistent and meaningful contributions to one or two orgs only. It would help you to focus on what would you like to do this summer. You can contribute to other orgs anytime but this point I mentioned with regards to GSoC contributions only.
4. Engage in the community: This is not a race where you alone would win, You will win with the community. Try to communicate with your community members. Help other people as much as you can. Show your genuine interest in the community.
5. Communicate with mentors: Mentors in Open Source are very friendly because they have been through the same situation as yours. They would try to help you at their level best if you could communicate your interest and problem well!
6. Be Patient: Many people do open source because of their interest to help others so they might have their jobs and other work to do alongside. Sometimes you might feel that someone is not replying to you or not reviewing PRs, at that time remind yourself that it’s not their choice to waste your time or delay the process:)
7. Don’t run after the number of PRs: PRs are the best way to showcase your ability. So, don’t waste this opportunity by just doing nonhelpful PRs just to show a big number. Instead, try to make meaningful contributions. In the end, what matters is to showcase your ability and skills.
8. Draft the proposal earlier: It is not possible for the mentors to review your proposal and give feedback instantly. Also, you might need some time to reflect on the feedback.
9. If you fall, bounce back with double energy

There are some other points as well but these were the main points I could list here. As of now, the community bonding period is going on and I would continue to share some blogs with you guys:)) It was the first time for me to write a detailed blog like this so your suggestions are always welcome!!

PS: Recently, I got an opportunity to work with Moja Global as an LFX mentee. I would love to share a blog regarding that journey super soon. I am deeply grateful to all the people who helped me in any phase of my journey. My DMs are always open for help:)