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Open Source Lab
Compared to my peers, I felt a step behind. I had only discovered computer science as a degree option halfway through my first year of college, while many others had already taken high school classes or attended coding bootcamps. That changed during my second year when I stumbled upon a job posting at the Oregon State University [Open Source Lab (OSL)](https://osuosl.org/) for a Student Systems Engineer position. At the time, I had no idea what that entailed—I hadn’t even heard of the term “open source.”
The OSL program is designed to grow students into engineers. They don’t expect you to know everything or ace the technical interview. It was exactly the environment I needed to bridge the gap between classroom assignments and real-world engineering tasks.
At the OSL, I learned new languages like Ruby and applied them to automation tasks using Chef. I was also put on a rotating “on-call” schedule, where tickets submitted by OSL clients would be assigned to me. These became the most challenging—and rewarding—tasks of the job. Suddenly, the stakes were real. I wasn’t just aiming for an A; I was responsible for functional, reliable code.
OpenStack
A few months after joining, I replaced a graduating student in the OSL’s “OpenStack Internship.” This meant weekly meetings with OpenStack maintainers from other companies and becoming an OpenStack contributor myself.
At first, it felt like starting a new job. I had to learn the ropes all over again: I was familiar with Git, but now I had to learn Gerrit. I had done automation work, but now I was writing Python scripts. I had used Slack for communication, and now also had to navigate IRC.
Working with OpenStack maintainers expanded my understanding of the open source world. I had moved from completing assignments, to spinning up VMs for clients, to contributing to one of the largest open source projects out there. As responsibilities grew, I had to balance schoolwork, OSL tasks, and OpenStack contributions. This taught me how to work efficiently and get it right the first time—in other words, to write clean, maintainable code.
Assignment code only needed to pass a test. OpenStack code had to be readable and understandable by other engineers.
At this point, I felt I had surpassed many of my classmates in terms of real-world coding experience. In group projects, while my peers were just learning Git, I was mastering it. That experience became incredibly valuable as I transitioned from student to full-time employee.
Stepping Into Industry
When it came time to apply for post-graduate jobs, I felt ready. I had worked part-time as a Student Systems Engineer for two years and had developed a robust toolkit to enter the workforce with confidence. The connections I made at the OSL and within the open source community—not to mention the skills I gained—helped me land my first job at The Linux Foundation.
Staying in open source was my goal because it had already taught me so much. Today, countless companies rely on the open source ecosystem, and hundreds of programs help students break into the field. Open source is a cornerstone of the tech industry—and an invaluable springboard for students to grow into capable, collaborative engineers.
