Everyone Struggles: My Outreachy Experience

This blog may look like a rant, because… I struggled 😩😩😩.
Struggles are an inevitable part of life. No matter who we are or what path we walk, challenges find their way into our lives. Over the past few weeks, I’ve faced my fair share of struggles, from understanding unfamiliar concepts to navigating technical roadblocks. But through it all, I’ve learned that struggle is not a sign of weakness, rather, it’s a step toward growth.

By now, you know I am an Outreachy intern with ODK-X, and starting from the contribution phase, I have struggled with one thing or the other. First, I struggled with understanding JaCoCo and how to use it effectively. Documentation helped, but it was at first misleading, because I was reading from a different context. I read other articles and then, it started making sense, eventually I was able to use the tool. Next was setting up a custom app using the ODK App Designer, it was a breeze during contribution phase. I then realized when I got into the internship that it was a breeze because I never got to the hardest part: running the custom app on a device. This phase threw me into the ocean of cluelessness, I didn’t even know what questions to ask 😀, but my mentors knew what answers to give, their answer helped me narrow down what I should be looking at which eventually led me to the point where I finally got it working.

Here comes the most frustrating part of my struggles😫. solving build issues that weren’t happening for everyone else. I tried everything: upgrading the IDE, re-fetching repositories, following every suggestion from the coordinators. Nothing worked, until one day, after countless attempts, I had a lightbulb moment that finally cracked the problem. While dealing with that, my laptop crashed multiple times from the builds, forcing me to switch devices and restart my setup. It was exhausting, but at the end awaits the reward of persistence.

Another challenge was understanding the thought process of another contributor in PR reviews. Reading someone else’s code isn’t just about syntax, it’s about getting into their mindset. It took time and patience, to finally connect the dots and make updates where necessary. The same applied to reading and understanding the existing codebase, something essential for making meaningful contributions. It perpetually takes me time to understand what I’m reading, but once I do, I move very fast. I’m hoping I would understand these things faster and better as time goes on.

Through all these struggles, one thing stood out: I was never alone. I had a group of mentors who were willing to guide me when I felt stuck. They helped me see problems from different angles, provided solutions when I was lost, and encouraged me when I doubted myself. And in return, I learned that asking for help isn’t a weakness, it’s a strength.

Everyone struggles, and acknowledging this fact builds empathy, compassion, and solidarity. When we share our struggles openly, we create a culture of support and understanding, fostering deeper relationships and mutual respect which is one of the beauty of open source projects. It’s in these moments of openness that we discover the power of community, a reminder that we don’t have to face our struggles alone.

Here’s to embracing struggles as part of growth, approaching them with courage, and supporting one another through their journey, reminding each other that it’s okay to struggle, because everyone does.

Till you hear from me again.

Cheers 🥂