The Progress So Far, and What Next?!

Dear Diary,
It’s me again, Eden!

It’s the midpoint of everything! My journey at HOT, and all the challenges/growth opportunities that come with it. It’s even the midpoint of the month of January!😀

I’m proud of myself for the progress I have made so far, and the initiatives I have taken in an attempt to maximize my time with HOT.

The 4th of December 2023, began a journey in my tech career which I will forever be grateful for. I was successfully selected as an Outreachy intern candidate at HOTOSM, for a duration of 3 months. As an ambitious learner, I made a list of goals I intend to achieve, and topics I intend to learn more about, but only as much time will permit me.

I mean it’s only 3 months, it will be over before you squint.

That also ushered the thoughts that kept bugging my mind even before I started; How do I achieve this much in just 3 months? What projects would be valuable to HOT and to people? What does my mentor expect of me?

Well, I believe in moving from the known to the unknown. And my first strategy was to reach out to a past Outreachy intern. I’m glad I took this first step. You should consider doing this too, if you are a prospective open source Outreachy intern.

I didn’t succeed at first, so don’t be discouraged if you don’t get any response. But I tried again; I checked the Alumni page on the Outreachy website and reached out to another past intern via X.

Thankfully, they responded and accepted my invite to a coffee chat. I asked them all the questions I had, and they gave me valuable insights, based on their experience, on how they would approach things.

The key element to my progress so far was understanding my responsibilities as a “Tech Community Engagement Intern” at HOT. My first few meetings with my mentor were very educational and welcoming, where she spent time explaining the role, expectations, take-off projects and also introduced me to other members of the HOT community.

You can read more about my role 👉🏼 here, by my pen, as a tech community engagement intern at HOT, incase you missed my previous blog.

The exciting thing is the freedom to make inputs in projects, review software in demo meetings, plan tasks flow and I enjoyed every second that passes by 🙂. Some projects took longer than expected, however, I was happy and willing to jump on every revert I received. As a result, this created opportunities for me to ask questions, learn and improve on what I know.

My mentor committed every Monday to our meetings, and sometimes quick calls if needed. We would brainstorm, make plans and execute. Our efforts into creative planning and execution was evident in the success of our just concluded interactive and collaborative session on “Make Your First Open Source Contribution to HOTOSM”. You should click on that link and watch the replay. You don’t want to miss it. And you can be part of our next session by suggesting what topics we should discuss next → suggest here.

Also, I hope to have you present in our skillshare session happening on January 26th, 2024. Let’s get creative together and elevate your video editing skill. I will guide you from the basics, to the tricks and tips of creating engaging video edits → register here.

As much as I am excited about the progress in my internship so far; I aim at achieving more project success here at HOT and creating value that will help open source contributors navigate their journey with ease and become long-term contributors to HOT projects.

If you’re a beginner to open source and don’t know where to start, I recommend joining the HOT Tech and Innovation Working Group to learn and grow your skill, within an inclusive community. And If you want to get your hands busy right away, check for “good first issues” or “beginner friendly issues” at the HOT Github page.

Till next time,
Eden