Holla!, My name is Usman. I am from Nigeria: "The supposedly giant of Africa 😋" due to her population and her talent exports. Trust me, when i say Nigerians are everywhere, most people have probably met one Nigerian in their lifetime which is a big Flex : ). Enough of me flexing my country's ubiquitousness . I am particularly born and raised in Lagos, the commercial hub of Nigeria and one of the liveliest city in africa,if you don't know you should probably add the city to your bucket list of cities to visit, there is never a dull moment in Lagos. Nonetheless, I am from a family of 4, i am the first child: Yes!. If you're reading this and you're the first child, I understand the burden to be a success and not be a bad example to our siblings if any, but we got this right? I am sure we do. I am currently pursuing my bachelors in Turkey with a major in Systems Engineering. But to be precise, I am a software engineer(with a more focus on Frontend), an open-source, a deep learning Enthusiast and an Otaku(google that😛). But unfortunately i am not a writer, so if my writing style comes off as meh🙄, kindly pardon me , this is my first time😉.

So, the day was May 20, 2022 at 4pm UTC. I received a mail from outreachy confirming that i was among the interns selected for the May-August Cohort working for Matrix.org on the project "Prototyping Bookmarking Messages For Element web" together with my mentor Andy Balaam. Trust me when i say i couldn't believe my eyes, i was literally not expecting it. But hey i am super grateful and honored to be among those considered and i am thankful to my mentor who believed in me, gave me a chance. I will be introducing my mentor indepth some other time. One of the best humans i have met in my life . Now in case you're wondering what is outreachy, what project i will be working on and the organization. Here you go 👇

What is Outreachy?

Outreachy is a diversity initiative of Software Freedom Conservancy. it is a paid, remote internship program. Outreachy's goal is to support people from groups underrepresented in tech. They help newcomers to free software and open source make their first contributions. Outreachy provides internships to work open source. People apply from all around the world. Interns work remotely, and are not required to move. Interns are paid a stipend of $7,000 USD for the three month internship. Interns work with experienced mentors from open source communities. Outreachy internship projects may include programming, user experience, documentation, illustration, graphical design, or data science. Interns often find employment after their internship with Outreachy sponsors or in jobs that use the skills they learned during their internship.

Brief Introduction of Matrix

Matrix is an open source project that publishes the Matrix open standard for secure, decentralized, real-time communication, and its Apache licensed reference implementations. Maintained by the non-profit Matrix.org Foundation, aims to create an open platform which is as independent, vibrant and evolving as the Web itself... but for communication.

I am particularly concerned about the word independent, which is like the core principle of matrix and which is also one of the core principles i live by as well (which i will brief about down this article). I am working on adding a bookmarking functionality to Element web which is arguably the most popular chat application or matrix client built on Matrix. I must say so far, it has been very interesting. The element or matrix community has to be one of the most supportive and active open source community i have encountered so far in my open source or development journey, i feel like i am with my family or friends, no discrimination whatsoever.

My Core Values and Motivation

Curiosity - I hate being behind in terms of information or knowledge, so i value information, knowledge so much it drives me to learn some unnecessary things atimes, that is how much of a curious cat i am. This might seem like a bad trait, to be crazy curious but hey, this is one of the things that drives me, things which makes me be in a competition with myself, trying to better my previous self.

Dedication - Another driving force for me is dedication, once i set my mind on achieving a goal, i go all out for it even if it disrupts my comfort. i do this because, if you want to be a success in life, you need to stay hungry and be dedicated or commited to your goals.

Independence - Trust me when i say, i love being independent. I rarely involve third-party in my business, this does not mean i don't get along with people, i just love my space. i love when i am challenged to do something on my own, it pushes my limit, it opens the door for self evaluation and self actualization.

Integrity- I value honesty and transparency in my relations. Even if no one is watching we should always try to preserve our integrity.

This brings me to the end of this article, I know it's a long text. But thanks for sticking out till the end. Hope you check back next time. Shalom ✌️.