This week's theme for our outreachy blog post was about a new concept, term or word we learnt as a result of contributing to open source through Outreachy.
Below is my experience.
What was the new word?
Inclusivity
Inclusivity was the term I was genuinely confused about. I wasn't sure how it related to documentation, in open source and even generally.
Inclusivity, diversity and equity in tech events, and tech roles? Yes, I knew that one. But related to how documentation is written? That was a little trickier.
When I first read through the requirements for my organization I wasn't sure what the term meant.
To relate it to my organization, we're focused on the health of open source projects and their communities, so making sure these communities are conducive for all demographics and all levels of growth; non-techies and techies - beginner, advanced beginners, intermediate, professionals, etc. Basically all experience levels.
This meant I'd have to find a way to include all these factors in the documentation.
I didn't know this; initially.
I looked up the term in the dictionary - that didn't help in relation to what I needed though, I asked a lot of questions - I remember asking the community manager (who's now my mentor) what it meant when a newcomer onboarding session was held for new applicants, I joined the DEI (Diversity, Equity and Inclusivity) workgroup in my organization during my application period to better understand it from the inside.
After a while, I understood enough to be able to make use of it in a sentence, and to be honest, every single day I keep understanding a little bit of what it means. But essentially, it means writing for everybody, to everybody.
Last week I was able to join an open-source organization on slack that made this their core mission. I linked them there, but I'd do it again here., and by being there, I found out about this cool that's like Grammarly, but instead of checking for typos only, it checks your words and gives you suggestions on how to make it more inclusive. Check it out.
Did you ask for help?
I was a bit hesitant, lol. I think mostly because it looked like something that should be understood at first glance. Fun fact: I still have trouble spelling/saying inclusivity correctly. I initially pronounced it Inclusitivity. Don't judge.
What did reaching out for help do?
Reaching out for help from my mentor, enabled her to explain and point me to more resources or organizations and also give examples.
A few people didn't understand it, but talking to them about it made me have extra help because even though they didn't know it, they tried figuring it out and their various suggestions helped me get better examples and ideas on the world.
If you're worried about asking questions, that's fine and completely normal. My advice in the end? Just ask.
I'd leave you with a quote a friend got from Chimamanda Adichie once. "If you're uncomfortable, say you're uncomfortable asking, but ask anyway"
New Knowledge for the Week.
A tool I learned this past week was pressing the "." key when on Github. It automatically opens up VS Code in your browser.
THAT WAS MY GREATEST HACK FOR THE WEEK.
Image One
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I mean, how cool is that?!
My major headache this week?
Trying to balance the timezone
I haven't been able to have a meeting with my other mentor all week because the time availability keeps clashing.
We'd figure out a way around it though.
Pats on the back?
I let my mentors know about my worry about maybe not having a lot to do, and I got pointed to more things that could be done + suggestions on collaboration with other people in the organization that might be helpful.
Also, being able to communicate with other community members out of the blue. Either to show appreciation for something they did that aided my work or to request their help on something.
It's been a little tiring, but cool nonetheless.
Anyhoo, that's this week.
See you next week.
Image Credits? Google