My Open-Source Journey
Telescope 2.0 marks the end or the beginning?
In the least cheesiest way possible, I am so grateful I took this course — it really opened my eyes as to how large projects are developed and maintained.
Telescope 2.0 has finally released, and to everyone who threw me a bone, reviewed my PRs, and helped me out when I desperately needed it, I just want to say thank you.
Taking a Look Back at Where I Started
If you told me to write a simple front-end React website 4 months ago, I would’ve hesitated to deliver. I’ve taken 3 web courses and all the different lessons are still floating around in my head with no solid place to live yet; CSS properties, the numerous packages, the different JS frameworks and syntaxes to remember — all somewhere in there looking for a place to settle down. Needless to say, web development was never my strong suit and I wasn’t too keen on diving into all the nuances that go into a full-stack website. So when I first started this course — DPS911 — I was really debating on whether or not I should stick with it. But you know what? I’m glad I did, because through my small contributions to Telescope I’ve gained confidence in my abilities to create a high-quality front-end website, made in whatever JS framework you throw at me. To go from avoiding web development to embracing it (possibly even favouring it?) is something that can only be done through such a wonderful course. By giving us students a real-world taste as to how things are done in the actual field, we can start learning how to deal with and handle the challenges that may find us when they find us.
Necessary things like growing thick skin when your code is picked apart and reviewed, owning up to your mistakes and responsibilities, taking initiative and leading team meetings, figuring out and researching solutions to unknown problems, and confidently asking for help when you need it — all of these I learned working as part of Telescope’s dev team.
Final Thoughts and Future Plans
I would be lying if I said I wasn’t bummed to say goodbye to everyone in our last Telescope meeting since everybody I worked with was always eager to help me with my issues. I have one more pro-option and I’ve heard that there may be a DevOps-inspired course coming my way, and if it does I think I am ready to dive into unknown waters, maybe even see a few familiar faces once again.
