Before Outreachy, when I thought about career opportunities, I mostly thought about job openings, applications, and interviews. Opportunities felt like something you wait for, or hope to be selected for.

This internship has changed how I see that completely.

I’m learning that opportunities are often created through contribution, visibility, and community, not just applications.

Opportunities Look Different in Open Source

Working with GNOME has shown me that contributing to open source is not just about writing code, it’s about building a public track record. Every merge request, every review cycle, every improvement becomes part of a visible body of work.

Through my work on Papers: implementing manual signature features, fixing issues, contributing to Poppler codebase and now working on digital signatures, I’m not just completing tasks. I’m building real-world experience in a production codebase used by actual users.

That kind of experience creates opportunities that don’t always show up on job boards:

• Collaborating with experienced maintainers
• Learning large-project workflows
• Becoming known within a technical community
• Developing credibility through consistent contributions

Skills That Expand My Career Options

This internship is also expanding what I feel qualified to do.I’m gaining experience with:

• Building new features
• Large, existing codebases
• Code review and iteration cycles
• Debugging build failures and integration issues
• Writing clearer documentation and commit messages
• Communicating technical progress

These are skills that apply across many roles, not just one job title. They open doors to remote collaboration, open-source roles, and product-focused engineering work.

Career Is Bigger Than Employment

One mindset shift for me is that career is no longer just about “getting hired.” It’s also about impact and direction.

I now think more about:

• What kind of software I want to help build
• What communities I want to contribute to
• How accessible and user-focused tools can be
• How I can support future newcomers the way my GNOME mentors supported me

Open source makes career feel less like a ladder and more like a network.

Creating Opportunities for Others

Coming from a non-traditional path into tech, I’m especially aware of how powerful access and guidance can be. Programs like Outreachy don’t just create opportunities for individuals, they multiply opportunities through community.

As I grow, I want to contribute not only through code, but also through sharing knowledge, documenting processes, and encouraging others who feel unsure about entering open source.

Looking Ahead

I don’t have every step mapped out yet. But I now have something better: direction and momentum.

I want to continue contributing to open source, deepen my technical skills, and work on tools that people actually use. Outreachy and GNOME have shown me that opportunities often come from showing up consistently and contributing thoughtfully.

That’s the path I plan to keep following.