Hey👋, I am Gaurav Chadha, a student from New Delhi, India with lots of dreams, ambitions, and zeal to learn and grow more each and every day.
How did it all begin?
My journey in open source started with late-night surfing on LinkedIn. I saw a post about the Layer5 organization and open source which drove me to their website and Slack workspace. And then, 💥 a single-click was all it took to kickstart my journey in Open Source and set in-motion a new chapter in my career development and relationships with new colleagues. I would say this was my best ever decision in life till now.
Getting started in the community
Despite the warm welcome that I receive upon joining Layer5's Slack workspace, I was a bit shy to introduce myself in the #newcomers channel, but then I saw so many other folks introducing themselves. My inner voice asked, "If they can do it, why can't I?", so I went ahead and introduced myself to the community. The best part for newcomers in Layer5 is that not only is each individual warmly welcomed, but that Layer5 MeshMates and Community Managers host a weekly meeting (see the community calendar) dedicated to the success of newcomers, helping each person find a foothold in the community. The overview provided in each weekly Newcomers meeting gives you the leg up that you need to get started with any of Layer5's projects and orients you to the how the community works (the community handbook is an excellent resource in this regard) and who to contact in your areas of interest.
I highly recommend all newcomers to engage as much as possible in the community. You will gradually start seeing a change in yourself.
Way to my First Pull Request 🏁
I still remember at that time I was just a beginner with Git, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript and most of the issues on the repository were going over my head. So I started with a very beginner-friendly issue about changing a background of a component and who would have thought this changing background issue will eventually change my life in open source. Then I made my first ever pull request in Layer5 and that got merged!
Try out some good first issues here Layer5 ,Meshery💻
From 1 Pull Request to 90+ Pull Requests Merged 🚀
After my first pull request got merged I really got pumped up with joy and told myself that I can do more. This journey of learning and pull requests was not at all easy for me, it took almost 9 months of continuous dedication and effort. There are many great folks I met here in the community, who helped me and taught me new interesting concepts. A big thanks to all of them, this was not possible without their guidance and support.
Things I learned at Layer5
There are a variety of things I learned at Layer5 and a lot I'm learning currently. I gained much technical knowledge as well as soft skills in these 9 months. I spend most of my time working on the UI of Meshery and its various projects. In terms of technical items I learned React, Docker, Kubernetes, new JavaScript concepts, etc.
I would say Layer5 is the best in terms of work ethics, community management, a healthy work environment, and a lot more. You can gain real-life working experience on such big projects and guidance related to your career.
How I landed an internship at Layer5?
I gradually started learning about the project and made myself choose one area to start with and continued to explore further. I kept pushing myself with patience until I feel strong and capable enough to take responsibilities and give my best to the community, Then I asked and applied for an internship and eventually, I got selected.
Now I can make more impact and grow more under the right guidance.😃
Apart from coding
Besides coding at Layer5, I made many new friends, great experiences, and memories.
At last, I would say, join this amazing community and experience the change in yourself. This will open the doors for opportunities for you. Just be tenacious and push yourself, that's all that I did.
Thank you
