The 8-week Djangonaut period has come to an end. When I first started, I was worried about whether I could do well due to my poor English skills, but the warm community and my teammates helped me successfully complete the program.
Djangonaut not only reduced my fear and unfamiliarity with Django open source contribution but also provided even greater value and inspiration.
🔭 Looking Back at the 8-Week Journey
Initially, when I decided to contribute to Django, the process felt unfamiliar and daunting because, unlike other projects, Django's issue tickets are managed on a separate page. Before Djangonaut, I had actually tried to contribute to a promising issue, but I quickly gave up because the discussion was too deep and complex. However, during the Djangonaut program, my mentor recommended suitable tickets, making it much easier for me to select an accessible issue to work on.
When you participate in Djangonaut, you are placed in a team with two assigned mentors. We held a team meeting once a week, and a 1:1 meeting with a mentor every two weeks. If you were to proceed alone, the journey could feel emotionally and technically overwhelming, but this regular communication with the team and mentors was incredibly helpful.
After some hard work (the process is detailed here), I successfully submitted my first PR. I learned a tremendous amount during the review process. I hope to use this feedback to significantly improve my code quality and structure in future PRs.
I'm currently working hard to incorporate the review feedback and will keep pushing until the PR is successfully merged!
Contribution to Documentation
Because the Django documentation is always in English, I always had to translate it into my own language to fully understand it. Doing this made me realize that I might as well contribute to the translation effort. However, I haven't had a chance to do it yet. 🥲 I plan to work diligently on document translation this week.
Contributing to Django News (Updates to Django)
After submitting my Django PR, I was considering what to do next when my mentor mentioned the Django News, which encouraged me to try contributing. The biggest challenge I faced during this process was, once again, the English language.
To contribute to the Updates to Django section, you first claim the current week and then write a brief summary of the week’s activity: who contributed, which PRs were merged, and any interesting discussions from issues, PRs, or the forum. Once approved, your Updates to Django article takes its historic first step! 🚀
I spent a considerable amount of time writing the news for that week, primarily because it took time to understand the English discussions and various issues. However, when the Django News was published, I felt incredibly proud and it was an unforgettable experience. 👼🏻 Thank you to the Djangonauts who helped me along the way.
Giving a Lightning Talk
Personally, I gained so much from Djangonaut Space that I wanted to share my experience with others! Therefore, I participated in a short talk to present my learnings and technical experiences from the program. In the talk, I focused on the broadened perspective and the incredible support I received from the community. I was only able to participate with a recorded video due to the time difference, which was a little disappointing!
What's Next & Thanks Djangonaut!
As Djangonaut Space concludes, I'm contemplating my next steps. It was such a great program that I am eager to stay involved. I am currently considering a few options. Since I plan to participate in open source contributions next year, I will likely join the Django translation efforts if the opportunity arises.I truly hope the Korean Django community sees a revival next year. 😿
I also want to give back the help and inspiration I received from Djangonaut Space. If given the opportunity next year, I would love to try being a mentor for the next batch of Djangonauts. I understand the fear of "Can I really do this?" better than anyone, and I want to be a bridge for other Korean developers to start this amazing journey.
Joining Djangonaut Space was definitely the best thing I did in 2025! It helped me overcome the difficulties of Django contribution and brought a ray of light into my dull developer life. It was also an opportunity to expand my mindset and language skills by engaging with people from various countries outside of the Korean developer community. I was incredibly impressed by the thoughtful and positive energy of the Djangonaut community! I hope more Korean developers join this program.
Thank you, Djangonaut Space, for taking me on this wonderful journey! 🌌 💫
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