Djangonaut Space update: week 8, final report

— 997 words

This article is part of a series:

Djangonaut Space, 2024 Session 1 Django-related articles I've written as a member of the second cohort of Djangonaut Space.
  1. Lifting off to Djangonaut Space
  2. A simple approach to running Django Core locally
  3. Djangonaut Space update: week 2
  4. You can be a beginner and also a speaker, blogger, or participant
  5. Djangonaut Space update: week 4.5
  6. Djangonaut Space update: week 7
  7. Djangonaut Space update: week 8, final report
  8. Django 5.1 is out

Djangonaut Space, 2024 Session 1 is over. It is a bittersweet moment because while I am ready, I don't want it to be over yet. What. a. flight.

Recap

During the program, I created or participated in:

Accidentally in space

I was unaware of any Django mentorship programs barely half a year ago, and here we are wrapping up an eight-week session. Funny how that goes!

Sarah Boyce got me hyped for the program when she kicked off the program at Django Day Copenhagen 2023. Her energy and the story of this program got me hooked to the point where I skipped some last-minute fixes to my presentation slides.

When Sarah Abderemane reminded me on Fostodon to sign up for the program, I was happy to report that I had already done so. When an ADHD person does something ahead of time, you've done it right!

I also met Thibaud before the program during one of Jeff Triplett's Friday Office Hours sessions. I joked that it would be fun to team up since we are both interested in accessibility; little did I know that had already been arranged!

So, was I accidentally in space? Maybe, but there were always people nudging me in the right direction.

Would I recommend Djangonaut Space?

I would recommend Djangonaut Space. If you have the time (a couple of hours a week), motivation, and some Django knowledge, go for it!

And if your inner Imposter Syndrome stirs, watch Carlton's presentation on surviving open source. See the link above.

Plotting my flight path

It is time for this Djangonaut to pilot her own spaceship. Destination unknown.

Djangonaut Space gave me the (rocket) boost I needed to get started with OSS, something I had dreaded for years for no other reason than my brain being weird. The next challenge will be to motivate myself to work on tickets independently.

I typically find more motivation in doing things for others than for myself, which is why the "pressure" of a group was a tremendous help during the mentorship program.

I enjoyed combining two of my web development loves in this program: Django Admin and accessibility. If there is room to continue with either or other fun topics, that would be great!

While those who have worked with me know I quit front-end development years ago because of the industry's general disregard for quality and accessibility, maybe this is a gentle way of revisiting it.

Either way, I hope to continue doing what I already did and much more in the Django Space!

(Note: Sadly, I will not be at DjangoCon EU this year.)

Thank you all

I thank everyone who was part of this incredible adventure, but in particular:

  • Sarah and Sarah for motivating me to take this trip;
  • Thibaud and Akash for navigating us through orbit;
  • Eli and Emmanuel, I loved having you as teammates!

Of course, thank you to all the organizers, navigators, captains, and supporters for making this program possible. I appreciate that you offered your time to help launch eighteen new Django stars.

Hat-tip to Ben and Emil for organizing DjangoCPH (Denmark), which hosted Sarah Boyce's presentation.

This is not a farewell but the start of a new journey.

Music tip

Listen to "The Other Side" by Public Service Broadcasting

Appendix A. Bookmarks

Here is a list of bookmarks I've kept throughout the program, sans a few team-specific ones:

Djangonaut Space:

Community:

Contributing:

Tickets:

Surviving Open Source presentation:

Accessibility testing training:

Documentation presentation:

Miscellaneous: