Since I’m experienced with both Open Source and Mentoring, my goals have been changing a bit. Some of my goals during this program have included getting our new contributors started on code contributions as soon as possible. I think it’s great to start with non-code issues or doc fixes, but I’ve seen that a lot of the discomfort with contributing to Open Source projects surrounds the code contributions themselves. In an effort to combat that I’ve been looking more into code issues and teaching the idea of getting as much assistance as needed from project maintainers. The p5.js group I’m leading now has made a lot of progress in the communication surrounding a code issue and the claiming of it. We’ll be working on it more and hopefully have a merged PR is the upcoming days.

This blog post gives my view on a Conference Talk given by Abigail Cabunoc Mayes at OSSNA 2025.

My previous goal was to get better at writing, and contribute some code to an open source project. I’m proud that I was able to improve on my technical writing skills, and improve my ability to convey my thoughts using supporting documents. What really got me to make progress on this was just researching problems, and detailing what the problem was, how I solved it, and adding evidence to my pull requests. I didn’t write any papers during this experience however. I think I’ll ask one of my mentors or someone at NSU’s writing center to assign me a topic to write about for accountability.

One of my most challenging problems I’ve worked on so far was adding a .gitattributes file to the p5.js repository. It was an all-intensive issue, and I had seen previously that an attempt from 6 years ago was closed as the contributor was unable to convince the steward that it was valuable. There was also an issue closed in January of this year(6 months prior) which didn’t really offer a solution but further addressed the problem. I saw a much more recent issue running a series of tests that was caused due to incorrect line endings, and had encountered that when working with a project called GitKit. I offered a short fix and began working on a more solid fix privately. Then I opened a PR to add .gitattributes and explained how it would help solve the problem, and I added screenshots showing that it worked. I had some other windows users test it in my cohort, but I’m still waiting on it to be accepted.

I think this was also the most rewarding issue. From the records I’ve seen my approach is the only one so far that has been considered by a steward. It gives me a lot of internal validation, regardless of if it gets merged or not. I know that if not now, someone down the line can look back at my contribution and potentially use it to bring up the issue again.

The most valuable thing I learned is how important a support system is. A good support system can help you feel comfortable wherever you go, and with whatever you’re trying to do. I plan to build connections with more intention now than I used to. I want to have a wide variety of supporters and people that I can support as well so we can reach our goals with the help of each other. I’ve been thinking about grad school as well, and I now have more knowledge of my options, and I’m 100% confident that I could be successful with any path I choose.

I feel very competent when it comes to contributing to open source now. I know how to judge whether a project would be good for me or not, and whether a specific issue is worth working on. I also know some concrete first steps to take before contributing to a project to make sure what I’m doing is procedurally correct for that project.

I do want to stay engaged with p5.js. For now my plan will be to check in every Monday to see if there’s anything I’d like to work on. I also keep constant tabs on my email(every day), so I’ll be able to see if my current open pr’s get merged or if anything is needed of me to get it merged in.

I would love to keep up with Catalyst, and if I could help by peer-mentoring future catalyst students I think that would be really enjoyable. I’ve been thinking about getting back into tutoring, and I think this would be a really good opportunity for that.

For today’s blog I read a chapter from Open Advice. The chapter I chose is Code, and I chose it because of the section titled The Art of Problem Solving. It just sounds intriguing. After reading it I don’t think it was as helpful as I thought it would be. I was thinking it would be more psychology, which it was a little, but I don’t have many big takeaways. I think dividing the issue and asking the right questions are good techniques however. I read that instead of just saying something doesn’t work and pointing out what it’s supposed to be doing vs what it’s actually doing can be very helpful.

The advice I would give to a peer just starting is to just do activities that help you practice using your tools. The GitKit activity that we worked on would be a great place to start for anyone new to open source. I also think it’s best to try to conceptualize everything not only in a way you can understand, but in a way that’s still accurate.

So far with p5.js I’ve done two commits. I fixed some typos I found in documents and was able to open two issues and close them both with my pull requests to the main repository.I’ve been added to the contributor list too as a document contributor.

Since we’ve been working with p5.js I learned a lot about how to successfully and accurately document an Issue. I’ve been providing a lot of screenshots to make it easier for my issues to be understood. I also include appropriate screenshots in my pull request to showcase the changes.

Within the next two weeks I really want to be able to make a code contribution. I would like to learn more about p5.js and how to understand the javascript they used to build their library.

When reflecting on my previous post and the goals I set there, I definitely have improved my writing capabilities. I work really well to document information, changes, and issues I’ve encountered. I also have been doing very well to help others troubleshoot issues they’ve encountered.

To keep building on this progress I think I can just keep moving forward and working on more complicated issues. As we go further into contributing I think the problems will only get harder, so building and utilizing my comprehension skills. This will better help me understand what I’m interacting with and with that I’ll get better at documenting and explaining to others

Emily has really been a great support person so far. I think to move forward, just having her there to answer questions or if she’s new to something too, point us in the right direction will greatly help.

Right now the biggest challenge I want to solve the expensive cost of of photo editing software. I’ve founde some software that you have access to by buying a specific camera brand. That’s what I’m doing now fortunately, but I think that all companies should provide quality photo editing software with their cameras. I think that’s more practical, but when I accomplish it I’m definitely going to tell my mom about it. She’d be very happy to see me merging my passions that way.