As a seasoned software engineer, Rahmat Akintola shares his transformative journey in open source contributions, highlighting the challenges, lessons learned, and profound impact it has had on his personal and professional growth. Through early contributions, learning to fix bugs, updating documentation, and receiving feedback, he gained confidence and enhanced coding skills. As he took on larger challenges, including feature development and collaboration with others, he developed valuable communication, code review, and merging skills. The open source community has not only improved his technical abilities but also fostered a sense of community, encouraging knowledge-sharing and mutual support. Rahmat's story aims to inspire others to embark on their own open source journeys, emphasizing the importance of collaboration, feedback, and tackling larger challenges as one grows.