Experiences Applying to Outreachy
Outreachy is a paid, remote internship program. Outreachy’s goal is to support people from groups underrepresented in tech. Outreachy allows newcomers to make their first open source contribution.
Outreachy is open to everyone around the world, especially for the under-represented groups in tech. It involves a series of application processes. First, the initial application comprises of series of questions and essays. The contribution period and the internship period. I will explain each of them as we proceed.
What Motivated you to apply to Outreachy?
I have had the opportunity of using several open-source projects and I felt it was about time I made my contributions to software that people all over the world can access. My first contribution to the open-source project was the Django Girls Tutorial documentation. When I made the contribution and my PR was merged I was very excited!
I realized I could do more. My greatest motivation is the fact that as one who falls under the under-represented group in tech, we are usually faced with a lot of challenges in tech. There is this notion that people still have that tech is for the male folks and a woman in tech will not perform well. And most of the time the few that managed to get involved don’t usually last in the system. If they do remain in the tech company they are usually positioned in a non-coding role. I was motivated to apply to Outreachy to contribute to Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) and change the story one code at a time!
What were you excited about when thinking about applying?
I was excited about the fact that I will have the opportunity to work with Wikimedia a world-class foundation that has been known for its great works and several other projects to its name. I was also excited that my contributions through the Outreachy program will help solve some of the challenges users of the WikiEducation Dashboard App are currently facing. By making UI improvements, changing architecture, and user testing of the app.
What made you passionate about the project you applied to?
During the application period, I went through the list of the projects available on the outreachy site. I made a list of projects of was interested in contributing to as time would permit. My selection of each of these projects was mostly based on my skillset. I intended to contribute to more than one project to increase my chances of being selected. When I came across the Wikimedia Android Project Improvements and User Testing of Wiki Education Dashboard Android App I was excited as most of the projects on the outreachy website are web-based and the Wiki Education Dashboard App happened to be the only Android project that piqued my interest. Especially because I am more skilled in Android development. I dived into the details of the project. Checked the GitHub repo went straight to the issues section and checked the issues tagged good first issue
. When I saw the issues, I realized there were some issues I could work on. I was excited I have found a project that match my skills that I can contribute to.
What was confusing about the Outreachy application process?
The Outreachy application process was quite long. Someone who is not patient might just stop halfway through the application process. But as the saying goes “Good things don’t come easily”. The process was long but it is worth it.
Initial Application
The initial application involves a series of questions and essay questions that should be filled in carefully and truthfully.
The Contribution Period
The contribution period lasted for a month and 4 days. It started from October 1, 2019, to November 5, 2019. This is the next stage after the initial application stage. Successful applicants who get to the contribution period.
Will be encouraged to start contributing from the date they were selected to increase their chances of being selected for the internship. At this stage, applicants can contribute to more than one project.
Before the end of the contribution period, applicants are also notified to submit their final application. During the contribution, I made a series of contributions and about 22 Pull Requests (PR) and it was very competitive. We had a series of other contributors/applicants contributing to the same project.
At some point, I was scared and contributed more to increase my chances of being selected. Here are some of the contributions I made during the contribution period;
Changed the Detail Media Fragment Layout to Constraint Layout
Use Constraint layout in Outreach Programs and events dashboard fragment
Changed fragment_image_viewer to ConstraintLayout Changed fragment_profle_stat to ConstarintLayout
Before the end of the contribution period, applicants are encouraged to create a proposal and timelines for the project they are interested in working on and submit it to the organization as well as on the Outreachy dashboard.
Internship Period
It’s a three-month paid remote internship. During this selected applicants will contribute to the project they were selected to make contributions for. And work with mentors to guide them through the internship period.
I was very excited when I saw the mail that I was accepted to participate in the internship. All thanks to my mentor for his support. And helping me get to this stage. It can only get better. I learned a lot during the contribution period and I hope to learn and contribute more during the internship period.
The internship started with the community bonding period. Where I familiarize myself and set up my community work tools. Like the Wikimedia common uploads for my photo, created a wiki page for my blogs. Made some changes to my proposal with the help of my mentor. I had a video chat with my mentor to discuss the plan for the internship and my first task.
I was introduced to a 10–15-minute daily check-in with members of the team.
How did you find information?
I found out about the program through a WhatsApp post that was shared in a WomenWill and Women Tech Makers group and I decided to check it out. From checking it out, I got interested in participating.
Who did you ask questions of when you were stuck?
During the application period when I was stuck, I sent mail to the mentors attached to the project I was contributing to. We also communicated via Slack.
How did your mentor help you during the application process?
During the application period, I made it a point of duty to always relate to my mentor because I understood the power of feedback. Whenever am having a challenge with my contributions as well as putting up my proposal I always make sure I reach out to my mentor on Slack. And he was very helpful.
What would you tell someone worried about applying to Outreachy?
Outreachy is for everyone irrespective of your skill level. Don’t be discouraged by thinking open-source contributions are just for very good people.
Outreachy open source contribution is not just a code-based contribution. It encompasses every aspect of tech. Outreachy internship projects may include programming, user experience, documentation, illustration, graphical design, or data science. Don’t think too much about it just give it a shot.
Still have questions for me just leave it in the comment or you can reach out to me on Twitter. Thanks for reading. Keep watching this thread for updates on my Outreachy internship experience!