This month, I am proud. This month, I celebrate diversity. Diversity not in ‘orientation’ but in my values and work. For the first time in a while, I feel that my work in tech also feels me.

Let’s rewind.

Last year, I applied to Outreachy, a program that supports underrepresented groups in tech. While I got to the contribution phase, I did not write my final application. Partly because I was not ready (or had not embraced diversity in my skills), and partly because I had not made a contibution to any project. I spent most of the phase learning C and attempting to contirbute to systemd. I felt I had not made a good enough contribution, and I was not ready to apply.

For the most part of my undergraduate, I was working on upskilling in cybersecurity. I played and won tens of CTFs, attended cybersecurity conferences, and presented at a few. I even got a really good internship at a cybersecurity company. Every indication was that my career was going to be in cybersecurity. And do not get me wrong, I love cybersecurity. I love the thrill of solving problems, the challenge of breaking down complex systems, and the satisfaction of finding vulnerabilities. But I also feel that I was missing something.

I miss the joy of building things, of creating something from scratch, and of seeing my work come to life. I want to be part of something different. To be more hacky, artsy, creative and everything in between. I want to be good at multiple things. I want to be a good programmer, a good computer scientist, a good engineer.

So, I decided to apply to Outreachy again this year. Eyes set on systemd, yet again. I thought it’s something low-level, something that I had never done before, something that would challenge me. But, I was drawn to a new community in Outreachy. The NixOS Foundation. I was not familiar with NixOS nor the Nix package manager, but I was intrigued. I wanted to learn more about it, to understand how it worked, and to see how I could contribute.

I started by reading the documentation, watching videos, and experimenting with NixOS on my own. Three weeks later I had tens of PRs merged, and I was feeling more confident in my skills. I had made contributions to the NixOS community, and I was ready to apply for Outreachy. I submitted my application, and was accepted into the Nix@NGI team.

Now, in my third week of the internship, I am certain that I am living my best work life. I enjoy the challenge of learning new things, the thrill of solving problems, and the satisfaction of seeing my work come to life. I am part of a team that is really smart, values opinion, and are encouraging my growth. I am proud to be part of Outreachy, and excited to see where this journey takes me.