My First Hacktoberfest: Discovering the Heart of Open Source

#devchallenge #hacktoberfest #opensource

Hacktoberfest: Contribution Chronicles

This is a submission for the 2025 Hacktoberfest Writing Challenge: Contribution Chronicles

Taking the Leap
October 2025 marked a significant milestone in my developer journey—my first Hacktoberfest. Like many first-timers, I approached it with a mix of excitement and nervousness. Would my contributions be good enough? Would I find projects that aligned with my skills? These questions swirled in my mind as I created my first pull request, but looking back now after successfully completing the challenge, I realize those fears were just part of the growth process.

The Projects That Shaped My Journey
My journey led me through 6-9 different open source projects, each offering unique lessons and challenges. The most impactful was Pyverse, where I implemented a simple feedforward neural network training module. This wasn't just about writing code—it was about understanding how to make complex concepts accessible to others. Translating the mathematics of neural networks into clean, documented code taught me that good open source contribution is equal parts technical skill and clear communication.

Most of the projects I contributed to were learning-focused websites and educational platforms. There's something beautiful about contributing to projects that help others learn. It creates a virtuous cycle: I learned by contributing, and my contributions helped others learn. Each project had its own community culture, code standards, and collaboration style, which expanded my understanding of how diverse the open source ecosystem truly is.

What Open Source Means to Me Now
Before Hacktoberfest, "open source" was just a term I associated with free software and GitHub repositories. Now, it represents something far more profound.

Open source is collaborative learning. Every issue discussion, every code review, every documentation improvement is an opportunity to learn from others and share what you know. I learned more from maintainers' feedback on my pull requests than I did from many tutorials.

Open source is democratized technology. Contributing to learning platforms showed me how open source removes barriers to education. The feedforward neural network I implemented in Pyverse? That code is now available for students and developers worldwide who want to understand machine learning fundamentals without expensive courses or proprietary tools.

Open source is community. Beyond the code, I discovered a welcoming community of people who genuinely want to help newcomers succeed. Maintainers took time to review my code, suggest improvements, and encourage me. Fellow contributors shared tips and celebrated each other's merged PRs.

Key Lessons From My First Hacktoberfest

Start Small, Think Big
My first contributions were documentation fixes and small bug corrections. These "small" contributions taught me project structure and workflow before I tackled larger features like the neural network implementation.
Communication Matters as Much as Code
Writing clear commit messages, detailed PR descriptions, and asking good questions in issues were just as important as the code itself.
Every Project is a Learning Opportunity
Even when working on seemingly simple learning websites, I picked up new frameworks, design patterns, and best practices.
Imposter Syndrome is Normal
That voice saying "my code isn't good enough" never completely disappears, but the open source community showed me that progress matters more than perfection.
Read Before You Code
Understanding a project's contribution guidelines and existing codebase saved me hours of rework and made my contributions more valuable.
How Hacktoberfest Changed My Perspective

Hacktoberfest transformed me from a consumer of open source to a contributor. I used to clone repositories and use libraries without thinking about the humans behind them. Now, I see every open source project as a collaborative effort maintained by real people who appreciate help, encouragement, and thoughtful contributions.

I also gained a deeper appreciation for maintainers. Reviewing PRs, managing issues, and keeping projects organized is substantial work often done by volunteers. This realization made me more thoughtful about how I contribute and more grateful for the projects I use daily.

Perhaps most importantly, Hacktoberfest showed me that I can contribute meaningfully to projects I care about. That confidence is something I'll carry into future contributions, long after October ends.

Advice for Future Hacktoberfest Participants
If you're considering Hacktoberfest 2026, here's what I wish I'd known:

🎯 Don't wait for October to start learning Git and GitHub. Basic familiarity with version control will let you focus on contributions rather than struggling with technical mechanics.

🏷️ Look for "good first issue" and "Hacktoberfest" labels. Maintainers tag beginner-friendly issues specifically for newcomers. These are your gateway into projects.

✨ Quality over quantity. The goal isn't to rush through four PRs—it's to make meaningful contributions. One well-thought-out contribution teaches you more than ten hasty ones.

❤️ Choose projects you care about. I contributed to learning platforms because education matters to me. When you care about a project's mission, contribution feels rewarding rather than obligatory.

💬 Engage with the community. Don't just submit PRs in silence. Ask questions, participate in discussions, and thank maintainers for their time. Open source thrives on human connection.

📝 Expect rejection and learn from it. Not every PR gets merged, and that's okay. Each declined PR taught me something about code quality, project fit, or technical requirements.

📚 Document your journey. Keep notes about what you learned, challenges you faced, and solutions you discovered. You'll be amazed at your growth by month's end.

⏰ Start early in October. Maintainers get overwhelmed later in the month. Early contributions give you more time for reviews and revisions.

Completing Hacktoberfest 2025 was just the beginning. I'm now a regular contributor to several projects I discovered in October, including Pyverse. The challenge gave me the push I needed to overcome my hesitation, and the experience showed me that open source isn't an exclusive club—it's a welcoming community that needs diverse voices and perspectives.

*To future first-timers: *
Your contributions matter. Whether you're fixing typos, improving documentation, or implementing complex features, you're helping build the commons of technology that serves everyone. Take that first step. The open source community is waiting to welcome you.
To the maintainers who patiently reviewed my PRs, answered my questions, and encouraged me along the way—thank you. You made my first Hacktoberfest everything it should be: challenging, educational, and deeply rewarding.
Here's to many more Octobers of contribution, learning, and community building. 🎃

What I contributed:

✅ Successfully completed Hacktoberfest 2025.
🧠 Neural network implementation in Pyverse.
📚 6-9 project contributions across learning platforms.
🌱 First-time contributor perspective.

Questions for you: