WWCD Mentorship Program 3.0: Week 4

The agenda around Week 4 was all about Open Source Opportunities and the vast myriad to keep track of and successfully contribute to the same.

Our mentor Pallavi Bishnoi enlightened us with all her experiences around contributing to Open Source and how as novices, suggested to us some exclusive programs to look out for, some tips to follow during the contributing period, and things to keep in mind for the effective completion of any such opportunities. Essentially, with the help of this blog, I will segregate the different areas of the aforementioned discussion and hopefully make your open source an exciting one to get started with!

Opportunities

Broadly, some of the famous Open Source Opportunities to watch out for are:

1. Google Summer of Code (GSoC): GSoC is an international annual program in which Google awards stipends to students who successfully complete a free and open-source software coding project during the summer. The program is open to university students aged 18 or over. Students work with an open-source organization on a 10-week programming project during their break from school. The applications mostly begin from the first week of March. It is considered to be one of the most prestigious programs in open-source to get in and probably the most competitive as well.
2. Outreachy Program: Outreachy is a program that organizes three-month paid internships with free and open-source software projects for people who are typically underrepresented in society. One of the most amazing things about Outreachy other than adding immense value to your resume is that it is counted as an internship and the participants are paid a fixed stipend of $6000 to work with the organization they opt for.
3. Rails Girls Summer of Code (RGSoC): RGSoC is a global fellowship program for women and non-binary coders. Students receive a three-month scholarship to work on existing Open Source projects and expand their skill set. Students are even paid a fixed stipend to work on their projects and are supported by a mentor directly involved with the Open Source project, and independent coaches with extensive developer experience.
4. GirlScript Summer of Code (GSSoC): GSSoC is the 3 month-long Open Source program during summers conducted by GirlScript Foundation, with an aim to help beginners get started with Open Source Development while encouraging diversity. Throughout the program, participants contribute to different projects under the guidance of experienced mentors. As mentioned by our mentor, this is one of the best open-source opportunities to get started with and gain experience before applying for a more competitive pool of opportunities.

Potential Reasons to contribute to Open Source Programs

It is rightfully believed that life is not about grabbing all the opportunities that come our way but grabbing the right ones. Within the same lines, open-source contribution might prove to be one of the best opportunities for you to delve into project management and how it is carried in an organization.

1. Open Source Opportunities are potentially the best avenue to acquire some professional and industrial skills as it helps you understand how a particular organization manages their projects, the respective open-source methodology in their daily workflow, and how they scale their projects to such extensive levels.
2. They can prove to be the best platform to work in a team and ideate on different parameters, get constant feedback, and a whole lot more improvisations before your final code is merged into the source code. Eventually, this helps in building the community around you while at the same time, helps you brush your skills and work on new ideologies.

To summarize the discussion, always keep an open eye for open source opportunities by joining various Facebook groups, slack channels, LinkedIn groups, and newsfeed, etc. The most critical thing to keep in mind is to not get overwhelmed with the vast amount of projects available but to pick the ones that suit you and your tech domain the best. The mentors are your go-to-person for even the silliest of the doubts you have, so never be afraid to ask for help. You will always end up learning more than you already know.

Altogether, I believe Week-4 was very helpful in making me aware of the myriad of opportunities I have around me and helping me realize that it is always about getting started somewhere! Onto the final week! 💖