My First PR (Purple Icon Moment)💜

I always wanted to contribute to open source. I used to hear stories about how programmers help each other and maintain massive projects together, and I’d think to myself, "Yes, I can just clone the repo and contribute..." without actually realizing how challenging it truly is.

I knew I wanted to make my summer productive, and GSoC was the perfect opportunity. I started reading articles on how it all works, but as a first year coder trying these things for the first time, it felt like standing in a massive, open field. You can move in any direction, but the worst part is not knowing if you’re headed the right way or if your work is actually benefiting the repository.

While searching for organizations, I found OWASP. Knowing I didn't have much backend knowledge yet as a freshman, I knew I had to play to my strengths. I chose to focus on Frontend and UI/UX. I fell in love with the BLT frontend, it felt so modern and futuristic and I knew I wanted to work on making it even better.

I used to wonder, "There are so many professional coders working on this code, how could there be anything left for a beginner like me to fix?" Nonetheless, I knew I had to step in one day and decided that day should be today. I forked and cloned the repo and started searching for anything that could be improved in the UI. After some time, I found a small UX upgrade for a dropdown box. I honestly didn't think I’d find even one thing to improve.

I made my first PR, feeling incredibly anxious about whether I was doing things right. An hour later, someone approved it. That reassurance knowing I was on the right track, made me very happy, even though it was still waiting to be merged.

A few days later, I made my second PR. But then, a week passed, and it still wasn't merged. I saw other people’s PRs getting merged in hours or days, and I started to get confused and lost, thinking maybe I had done something wrong. Daily, I would see others on Slack making multiple PRs and already having a lot of experience. Compared to them, I felt like I knew nothing. Seeing my PRs just lying there made me feel like quitting. I felt like my work would just stay stagnant, and I began to think, "Maybe this is just how the world is." I knew it takes time for managers to review and merge code, and I knew they were busy, but a week felt like an eternity. Then my mid sems started. I shifted my focus to my exams and stopped checking my PRs entirely.

After exams were over, I opened GitHub almost hopelessly, expecting to see my PRs still "Open." But when I clicked, I saw that beautiful purple icon. To my total surprise, both of my PRs had been merged! My happiness was truly "out of the sky." It was my first PR ever, and for it to be with such a prestigious organization... I can’t describe the pride I felt. Knowing that even 0.001% of the code in such a big project is yours, that you actually improved something gives you an incredible sense of accomplishment. Perhaps as I keep contributing, the "merged" notification won't feel as intense, but I will always cherish the happiness of those first two purple icons. Seeing them made all the wait worth it.

This experience taught me the reality of contributing. I always knew the theory, but actually doing it multiple times has made it feel so much more natural. Now, I can give back to the products and tools I love.