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

Every year, developers across the globe wait for this month of October to celebrate the open source. Newbies to experienced ones eagerly wait to contribute; some win prizes and others proudly display the work they had been doing.

I participated in hactoberfest many years ago but this year, I was inspired to join after seeing the oss.gg competition during the hacktoberfest. Their approach to open source contributions was something that was interesting and excited me - Gamifying open source contributions. Yes! You read that right! Like a game you will approach the issues and you will be rewarded with points.

Of course, winning prizes during this hacktoberfest was exciting but more than that, I wanted to contribute as much as possible to make myself a worthy candidate for employers.

Earlier, I only did open source in few repos, but this time, I contributed to new repos such as Formbricks, Papermark, TwentyORM, and Dub. I felt I am solving daily leetcode challenge. Yes, i can proudly say that I worked on code each day and night, fixed much more than bugs and worked on even feature requests.

During this time, I kept myself open to tech stacks, not confided by one language/framework. It made me really confident what I achieved. Like going on a quest, each day felt like a quest—I woke up eager to solve new issues, and I did. And guess what??

I greatly reduced my mobile screen time. I always wanted to work on reducing mobile screen usage during my leisure time. The past month I was able to utilize my time in a good way and be proud of that.

Reflecting on this journey, I realize how impactful Hacktoberfest can be, not just for the community but also for personal growth. It pushed me out of my comfort zone, honed my skills, and provided a sense of accomplishment. Even if you are a beginner, don't worry—there is always a community to help and guide you in open source.

I look forward to continuing my open source contributions and embracing new challenges in the future.