My First Time Participating in Hacktoberfest: A Journey into Open Source

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

This was my first time participating in Hacktoberfest and also my first time contributing to open source projects. I had heard a lot about Hacktoberfest over the years, but this year I decided to jump in and make my contributions.

I successfully made four pull requests (PRs) that were all merged after a thorough review process, which made the experience even more exciting. After the review period of seven days, I received my Hacktoberfest badges. Here’s the breakdown of the badges I earned:

• Hacktoberfest 2024: Registered (Level 0)
• Hacktoberfest 2024: Level 1
• Hacktoberfest 2024: Level 2
• Hacktoberfest 2024: Level 3
• Hacktoberfest 2024: Level 4

I also received a special badge for registering for Hacktoberfest 2024, which was a great motivator to dive into this challenge.

I was so excited when my pull requests got merged that I would open the Hacktoberfest website several times a day to check how much time was left for the review period and to see when I would earn my badge.

Badges I Earned

It was also a great feeling to be featured on the Hacktoberfest 2024 Hall of Fame because I earned the fourth badge. You can search for my username, abdullahk18, in the Hacktoberfest 2024 Hall of Fame.

During this journey, I learned a lot about open-source contributions, how to navigate GitHub more effectively, and the importance of collaborative development. Each project I worked on had a unique challenge, and overcoming them helped me grow as a developer.

1. Link to Pull Request 1
2. Link to Pull Request 2
3. Link to Pull Request 3
4. Link to Pull Request 4

Why I Decided to Participate

I’ve always been curious about contributing to open-source projects, but I wasn’t sure where to start. Hacktoberfest 2024 gave me the push I needed, and it was rewarding to see my contributions make a positive impact on projects that are used by developers worldwide. The sense of community and support throughout the event was truly motivating.

What I Learned

• Collaboration: Open-source is all about teamwork and collaboration. Working with maintainers and other contributors helped me improve my code quality.
• GitHub Proficiency: From managing branches to handling merge conflicts, I became much more comfortable using GitHub during this event.
• Contribution Process: I gained a better understanding of how open-source projects operate, how to read codebases, and how to make meaningful contributions.

Overall, this experience has inspired me to continue contributing to open-source projects and be part of this amazing community. I’m already looking forward to next year’s Hacktoberfest!

Conclusion

Participating in Hacktoberfest for the first time was an eye-opener and a confidence booster. I’m proud to have earned all four badges and completed my pull requests successfully. If you're new to open-source like I was, I highly recommend taking part in Hacktoberfest—it’s a fantastic way to get started!