I first heard about Hacktoberfest from fellow developers in the Zero to Mastery community, and their enthusiasm inspired me to take part in one of the challenges. Hacktoberfest 2025 became my first real dive into open-source collaboration—and it turned out to be one of the most rewarding learning experiences I’ve ever had.
My Contributions
I contributed to the Animation Nation repositories, a creative CSS Art project that celebrates the art of coding through animation and design.
Each contribution taught me something new: navigating an unfamiliar codebase, writing cleaner and more readable code, improving documentation, and polishing my Git workflow.
What I learned along the way:
- How to understand and adapt to different coding styles
- How to write meaningful commit messages and pull requests
- The importance of clear communication when collaborating in open source
- Patience with both the review process and with programming itself
At first, I was intimidated by the idea of contributing to a large, established project. But after submitting my first pull request and receiving feedback, I realized how welcoming and supportive the open-source community can be.
Open source gave me a space to share my creativity, learn from others, and refine my technical and communication skills. Even small contributions felt impactful, like I was helping build something bigger than myself.
Hacktoberfest 2025 wasn’t just about pull requests; it was about growth, connection, and confidence. I’m grateful for the experience, and I’m excited to keep contributing beyond October and continue building in public.
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