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👋 Hi Devs,

Last week, I was chatting with a software engineer at Shopify, and I asked him a simple question:

I was expecting the usual answers —
💻 grinding LeetCode
🤝 getting referrals
🧾 sending out 1000 job applications

But his reply caught me completely off guard.

He smiled and said,

I paused. Seriously?

He nodded.

And that’s when it clicked —
Open source isn’t just about giving back. It’s one of the fastest ways to grow, get noticed, and land real opportunities as a developer.

and that’s what we are talking about today

WHY IT MATTERS:

Most developers learn by following tutorials — but the truth is, real growth happens when you start building in public.

• Building a public portfolio that shows what you can actually do.

• Collaborating with experienced engineers, learning how real-world projects are structured.

• Getting your name noticed — recruiters, hiring managers, and founders actively scout contributors on GitHub.

• Improving your problem-solving skills because open source exposes you to bugs, edge cases, and discussions no tutorial ever will.

• Becoming part of a global network of builders who support each other, share feedback, and open doors to opportunities.

My Journey so far being Open Source Contributor

Note: Before I dive in I’m not affiliated or sponsored by Hacktoberfest, MLH, or Scrimba. This was my first time participating, and I discovered Hacktoberfest through those communities.

I recently began my open source journey after hearing about Hacktoberfest — a month-long global event where developers come together to contribute to real-world projects.

When I discovered it, I thought, “This is the perfect moment to finally start.”
So I joined in — determined to learn, contribute, and make my mark in the developer community.

It wasn’t about winning swag or badges. For me, it was about getting hands-on experience, improving my skills, and becoming part of something bigger than myself.

I joined Hacktoberfest full of excitement — but by October 1st, reality hit me hard.

I had no idea where to start.
How do you even find the right projects?
And once you do… how do you actually contribute in a meaningful way?

Hacktoberfest does provide great resources, but I’m the kind of person who learns best through video tutorials and real examples — not just text guides.

So after some deep Googling, I stumbled upon a FreeCodeCamp video on open source contribution — and that’s where things started to finally make sense.

After watching the FreeCodeCamp video, I understood the basics of how open source works — at least in theory.

But here’s the funny part… when I actually tried doing it, I still had no clue what I was doing. 😅

So I took a simple approach:
I started searching on GitHub for repositories with the tags #hacktoberfest or #hacktoberfest2025 to find active projects.

Then I began forking a few of them and just playing around with the code — testing features, exploring files, and trying to spot bugs or areas for improvement.

That’s when I realized something valuable:
For beginners like me, it’s not about fixing big issues right away.

It’s about refining your contributions — starting small, improving documentation, or cleaning up minor bugs until you understand the project deeply enough to make meaningful changes.

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Here’s what I discovered early on — my secret weapon for contributing as a beginner:

You don’t need to start by fixing complex backend logic or rewriting entire components. Sometimes, the most impactful contributions are the small ones.

In my case, I noticed many projects didn’t have a favicon (logo) showing in the browser tab.
Something tiny, but it instantly improves branding and user experience.

And honestly, once I spotted that, I started seeing it everywhere.
So I began contributing by adding missing favicons, cleaning up README files, and fixing small UI issues — things that might seem minor, but show real attention to detail.

Because here’s the truth:

I focused on what I already knew — HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.

Since I’d been building bite-sized projects for months (something I shared in my article “90 JavaScript Project Ideas That Will Make You a Better Developer”), spotting small front-end issues came naturally.

So when I noticed missing favicons, I jumped in — found the issue, forked the repo, and raised my first pull request.

It wasn’t perfect, but it was a start — and that’s what truly matters.

After spotting the issue, I fixed it and submitted a Pull Request (PR) — also known as a Merge Request (MR).

my solution got accepted and merged into the main project.

To be honest, I was so happy — seeing my contribution merged felt incredible.

And to top it off, I even received a GitHub badge for it! 🎉

A small achievement, but a big confidence boost to keep going.

💭 The Bigger Picture

The real value of open source isn’t just about making commits — it’s about learning to think like a developer.

You read code, understand how things fit together, and figure out the best possible way to help a project grow.
And that’s exactly what real software engineers do every day — reading, fixing, improving, and collaborating.

It’s no surprise that many amazing engineers started their careers by contributing to open source.
That habit of building together — not alone — is what truly separates great developers from the rest.

Sure, building projects and solving DSA problems matter.
But in the real world, we work in teams, not in isolation.
And that’s the biggest lesson I’ve learned so far.

I still have 5 more PRs/MRs to complete my Hacktoberfest challenge, so wish me luck! 🍀
I’ll keep sharing my progress here, one step at a time.

Also, a huge thank you — as of today, there are 1,735 of you reading this newsletter. 🙏
I never expected this kind of support, especially as someone who’s still learning and chasing the dream of becoming a software engineer — and maybe one day joining FAANG/MAANG.

That’s why I started this newsletter — to share the journey honestly: what I’m doing, what’s working, what’s not, and to pass along every resource that’s helping me grow.

You can follow me on LinkedIn that’s where I share my daily updates