🌟 #DEVImpact2023: A Year of Challenges, Triumphs, and The Future
Tags: devimpact2023, devjournal, opensource, writing
Published: 2023-12-28 15:02:00

## Whoa!

Since [my mid-2023 reflection post](https://chrissycodes.hashnode.dev/so-far-so-good-reflections-on-my-tech-journey), I’ve grown so much in my tech and open source journey. There were goals that I’ve set and managed to achieve and a few surprises that I did not anticipate. Now before I start getting tear-eyed, join me as I reminisce on my triumphs, challenges, and muse about the future. 

## Triumphs

There were so many wins that I experienced this year, but I had to pick a few, it would be the following:

### Win #1: My First Contribution to [Dev.to](http://Dev.to)

I’ve always wanted to contribute to Dev.to's open source project, but never knew how to do so. Then one day while I was trying to schedule on a post for OpenSauced's blog, I told @michaeltharrington, one of the moderators of the website's Discord community, that an alert appears for these kinds of posts. He then suggested that I add this information to the Editor Guide via a Pull Request:
{% github https://github.com/forem/forem/pull/20258 %}
It was wonderful making that contribution and look forward to doing more in the future. If you want to learn more about this contribution's creation process, check out Michael’s post here:
{% link https://dev.to/devteam/dev-community-contributor-spotlight-christine-belzie-38bg %}

### Win #2: Becoming FreeCodeCamp’s Top Publication Contributor

To this day, I’m still get giddy that I am one of FreeCodeCamp’s Top Publication Contributor. Given that this is my first year writing for them, I did not anticipate that I would win this title, so through this experience, I’ve learned that sometimes, the wins you don’t plan are the best ones. If you want to learn more about my experience, check out this post:

 {% link https://dev.to/cbid2/novice-to-expert-my-freecodecamp-writing-journey-j5a %}

### Win #3: Becoming an open source maintainer

I’ve managed to be a maintainer not one but two open source projects. LinksHub and OpenSauced. 

   {% github https://github.com/rupali-codes/LinksHub %}

{% github https://github.com/open-sauced/guestbook %}

 Reviewing Pull Requests and brainstorming ideas to enhance these projects with @rupali_codes, @bekahhw, @adiatiayu, @nickytonline, and @bdougieyo has been a wonderful experience. I look forward to doing more with them.  If you want to learn more about my experience, check out one of my posts here:

 {% link https://dev.to/opensauced/how-to-collaborate-on-pull-requests-for-beginners-434a %}

With triumphs comes challenges, so bring out some more snacks and join me as I reflect (and cheer) on the challenges I have managed to overcome.

## Challenges

There were a couple a challenges that I faced this year, but if I had to pick some, it would be the following:

### Challenge #1: Surviving Hacktoberfest

This year, I decided to participate in Hacktoberfest as a contributor and maintainer for the first time ever. In the beginning, it was hard balancing trying to find projects and fulfill the four PR requirement and helping contributors achieve the same goal, but after a while, I slowly got used to the workflow. It was a great experience and would love to do it again. If you want to learn more about how I survived this event, check out these posts here:

 {% link https://dev.to/cbid2/4-approved-pulls-in-1-week-my-road-to-hacktoberfest-success-2j20 %}

 {% link https://dev.to/cbid2/four-ways-to-survive-hacktoberfest-as-a-maintainer-26fk %}


### Challenge #2: Find Paid Tech Writing Gigs

In mid-2023, I set out to write paid technical content, which turned out to be quite the challenge. Many publications favored web development experts or didn’t find my drafts aligned with their brand. Their rejections left me feeling a bit dejected, but just when I was about to give up, voila! Success finally smiled my way! 😊 A non-profit organization reached out to me and mentioned that their open source project’s documentation leader has read some of my blog posts on [Hashnode](https://chrissycodes.hashnode.dev/) and asked if I’d be willing to help them improve their project’s tutorials. As someone who’s been blogging to boost my job search, this win reassures me that I’m heading in the right direction.  If you want to learn more about this experience, check out my reflective post here:

   {% link https://dev.to/cbid2/3-important-lessons-i-learned-from-my-first-paid-tech-writing-gig-51kl %} 

 Alright enough with discussing the past, come and let’s look forward to the future with me! 😊

### Looking Into The Future

 For 2024, I would like to achieve the following:

- Do more paid technical writing content
- Find an online graduate program and gain a certificate in Cybersecurity
- Participate in a paid open source program.

 I know there’ll be more roadblocks coming with these goals but I’m ready to face them head-on.  

## Shoutouts

 As I always like to say, “There’s no i in Team”. Here are some people I would like to thank for their help: 

- Thank you @blackgirlbytes for being a huge inspiration in my approach to writing technical content, and giving me the courage to be reflective about my writing journey! 😊
- Thank you @anmolbaranwal for being receptive to my ideas for LinksHub and encouraging me to grow as a maintainer! 😊
- Thank you @yuridevat for your support during Hacktoberfest. Your guidance and patience in my approach to contributing to your open source projects has been immensely helpful.

## Where to Go Next

I don’t know how 2024 will be, but I do know one thing. It’ll be great! 😊 Stay updated on my journey by exploring my other tech blogs and social links on my [BioDrop profile](https://www.biodrop.io/CBID2).