Blog: From Zero to Kubernets Subproject Lead

From Zero to Kubernets Subproject Lead Starting up Always learning Why you - a beginner - are important to the project Getting started in any open-source community can be daunting, especially if it’s a big one like Kubernetes. I wrote this post to share my experience and encourage others to join up. All it takes is some curiosity and a willingness to show up! Here’s how my journey unfolded at a high level: What am I interested in? Is there a SIG (Special Interest Group) or a WG (Working Group) that is dedicated to that topic, or something similar? Sign up for their mailing list and start hopping on meetings. When (never if!) there are opportunities to help out and it aligns with your skills and desired growth areas, raise your hand. Ask for lots of help and don’t be shy about not knowing everything (or anything!) Keep plugging along, even if progress isn’t as fast as you would like it to be. First things first. What are you interested in learning more about? There are so many wonderful SIGs and working groups in the Kubernetes community: there’s something for everyone. And continuing to show up and participate will be so much easier if you think what you are doing is interesting. Likewise, continued participation is what keeps the community thriving, so that interest will drive you to have more of an impact. Also: it’s ok to show up knowing nothing! I remember showing up knowing very little about Kubernetes or how the community itself worked. And while I know more about how the community functions today, I am still learning all the time about it and the project. Fortunately, the community is full of friendly people who want to help you learn.