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

The title seems interesting, isn't it? But in actuality, it's not.

Well said, "Only the wearer knows where the shoe pinches".

In this blog, I'll be sharing my Hacktoberfest experience. A very unforgettable experience. Take some popcorn and enjoy!! I hope in the end, you'll get some positive messages for yourself.

Let's begin the story... 🟢

It all started last year i.e. year 2023, Hacktoberfest. Still a nightmare for me. I was in 1st year (suffering from a late session due to the Covid outbreak). Everything was going well, and then(horrifying music 🎶), the month of October arrived 🎃. I saw people start to rush into some place. The place was nothing but just a website. A website that stood out of billions of them. It was Hacktoberfest Season, the season of open-source.

As a child and noob, I too committed to that program. Before that, I never committed to anyone or anything. It was a whole new feeling. A feeling of goodness, a feeling of confusion, a feeling of peace, and some butterflies. But you know, "Wise men say, only fools rush in" and I was that fool. I didn't know anything about my lover. My lover was composed of Git, Github, technical knowledge, and many different things.

I was so illiterate. And that illiteracy made me make mistakes. The mistakes that fill me with pain, so unimaginable. I never wanted to do it, but "the devil made me do it". I had no options left. Those dirty YouTube videos also motivated me to do those things. It was whole like a murder of open-source. The Halloween spirits and the greediness to get my lover possessed me. And, I started to do typos and adding random files to a random repo and spammed the first 20 days of October.

But what happened after those 20 days? I'm going to reveal this secret to you today. I was disqualified from the Hacktoberfest. 🙂

"If you do wrong, you have to pay for that in this life itself". And I paid. The fun fact was I didn't even in the state to understand what led me to disqualification. And then, I sent an email to the Hacktoberfest support team, and below is their response:

This disqualification broke me badly. It took days to recover. But after some time I realized my mistake. I realized that whatever happened to me was my fault only. And then, this disqualification turned out a boon for me. Yes, you heard it right!

Disqualification: A boon? 🧐

After those wetty pillow nights, I somehow managed to handle that trauma. And slowly, I started to realize what I had done. I started from the beginning and tried to solve every question that I left behind. After some months, I joined a community called Quira and my life changed. I was not like before. I went to some great depression, as the Quira community had some great ppl. They are so intelligent, and their works are so mind-blowing. And I felt myself lost there.

One day, I shared the Quira Community, where I came from. Instead of making fun of me. They helped me. Good people do exist. I learned a lot from that community, and after spending less than a month there, I started to build my own projects. The feeling of doing something of your own for the first time is so great!

This is the reason why you should see my first blog about Quira itself:

Quira: Monetise your Open-Source work 💸

Rohan Sharma ・ Aug 16

#opensource #monetise #quira #quests

Join Quira Discord Community 💘

How Quira changed my life? 🍻

If you read my Quira blog, the link I shared above. You'll get to know that Quira conducts quests one after another. The prize money is way too much!

The quests are based on a specific open-source tool/framework/product that we have to use in order to make valid contributions. The open-source orgs that collaborate with Quira are way too good and have high future scopes. Some of them are listed in the table:

Interestingly, Quira is one of the sponsors of this year's Hacktoberfest! 🎉

Would I'll be able to make into Hacktoberfest 2024? 🤨

Let me tell you something if you're not aware of this. Disqualification from Hacktoberfest is permanent. So, all over? Naah...

I mailed the support team of Hacktoberfest in the hope of a chance. A single chance to prove that I'm not the same previous year's guy. I sent them mail on 2nd Oct and on 3rd Oct, I got the reply. The reply was... Check it out yourself!

yes, they give me a chance! And I'm very thankful to them 🥹

Did I repeat the same things again?? 🤨

BIG NOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

This is my Hackotberfest 2024 recap:

Too many PRs. You must be thinking I spammed again! But nothing like that ✨

This year, I didn't get a disqualification but got some appreciation from the maintainers. Here, you can find them:

Apart from these, I also earned 200 USD from my contribution. (that's a secret 😉)

What did I learn 🧑‍💻

• Put your steps away if you know nothing.
• Never play the victim card. You always know who are you from inside.
• Learn the basics of Git and GitHub, if you want to land in open source. (it's a delusion that you need to learn things at the advanced level)
• Follow good YouTubers/content creators. Frauds are everywhere!
• Don't get influenced by any one comes to you. They might be wrong, whether intentionally or non-intentionally.
• Learn from your mistakes.
• Be a part of good communities like Quira, or other.
• Focus on quality moreover quantity.
• Don't run away from hard work.
• Never judge yourself.
• Refrain from the thoughts of "what people will say?".
• Don't hesitate to ask for help.
• Always be open with your thoughts.
• Good things take time, so no need to rush in. Unless it's your love and you want them badly. [still, use your brain first 😉]
• Believe yourself.

It's conclusion time!! ⏰

I was hesitating a lot to write this blog. But, why hide? My GitHub speaks everything. I know I made a mistake and so I paid for that. I'm a prisoned person who has served his sentence.

I don't know how you treat me. As a good person or a bad soul. The thing that matters the most to me is "How do I treat myself with your reactions?"

This is the little story of dumbo. Though, I'm still a dumbo. 😂🤣

If you want to follow me, here's my GitHub profile:

RS-labhub (Rohan Sharma) · GitHub

Hi there!🧟 You're the most beautiful person I've ever met! Building @developersHub - RS-labhub

github.com

If I can do it, then you also. Have some faith mate, everything will be okay one day. Just keep doing your work! 💝