Not A Goodbye!

This is the Closing Chapter! However, the story continues😀

My friend (and colleague) Ola messaged me and asked, “Eden, how do you feel, that your internship at HOTOSM is ending soon?” I took a long pause to answer that 🥹.

As the curtains draw close on this chapter of my professional journey, I find myself reflecting on colourful experiences, lessons, and memories that have defined my time as an intern at HOTOSM.

It’s been 3 months already!?🥹 Like someone rightly said “time goes by quickly, when you are having fun”. I’m usually the type of person that looks forward to the end of a thing because I learnt to always finish what I started. But this time, it felt weird! A mix of nostalgia and anticipation.

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Exploring Career Opportunities in Open Source

Sometimes, evaluating an end goal before beginning a journey can be good, especially as regards to career. And if you’re wondering what the next 1 - 3 years look like for someone committed to open source, then I’m happy to explore with you some interesting career opportunities in the open source community and share my story as well.

I was in a tech conference some years back, and during a chit-chat/mingle session before the speakers came on stage, the phrase “open source” was flying around, literally. I got confused and I was having another small chat with myself in my mind, what exactly is open source?

Could it be the company got sponsored by the public? As in “open source?” Haha! I had no idea what everyone was talking about and I was eager to begin the training so that I could learn from the speakers.

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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?

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Community-Driven Tech Development in Open Source

Sometime ago in 2019, out of curiosity I asked a friend who was a community engagement person to explain her job to me. What exactly is the role of a “community engagement person?”. Could it be just another title for a social media manager, or content creator?

Well, my friend loved her job and her explanation was plenty, but let me break it down and explain the role of community engagement.

I have come to the conclusion that some job titles can be used interchangeably, like Software Developer and Software Engineer. Whichever title you choose to have on your profile, the responsibility is the same. I feel, most companies use either for what suits their brand archetype.

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“The beauty of a tech journey lies in the shared struggles 🧩”

The quote above is a reminder that success is not a solitary path but a collective triumph over challenges. Everybody struggles 🤷🏽‍♂️. Tech’s greatest minds that we know today didn’t escape the struggle; they transformed it into the foundation of their success story. How about that?

The journey to breaking into the ever-evolving landscape of the tech industry can be challenging and daunting. From the overwhelming available knowledge to the diverse backgrounds that contribute to the beauty of the industry. You may want to grab a cup of coffee if you can, let’s quickly delve into the shared experiences that unites aspiring open source enthusiasts worldwide :)

The Struggle is Real

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👋🏼 Hello and welcome to my blog space where I share everything about my journey with Outreachy, HOTOSM and more. Thank you for joining me on this exciting journey! I am very excited to be part of the Outreachy program and If you’re interested in knowing the rest of my story, which I am willing to share it all :), please subscribe to my posts, so you get notified every time I publish a blog on my journey. Just like everything that ever existed, there’s always a beginning. So let’s zoom🔍 out a little bit to where it all began 😊.

Introduction

My name is Eden Oluigbo. I am a full-stack developer, artist and creator living in Abuja, Nigeria. I'm an open-source advocate and love contributing to the improvement of open source software. I started an active contribution to open-source projects in 2022. I joined different communities, made contributions and got PR merges (that excitement of having your PR merged never gets old haha😁).

Why Outreachy?

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