Testimonials

I initially joined as a mentee in session 5 looking for some mentorship into achieving my first open source contribution – and it delivered on that front! It boosted my confidence and taught me valuable lessons that will help me continue my engagement with Django and approach other open source projects in the future. But most importantly, I also discovered that open source is more about community than it is about code. And the Djangonauts community is an amazing one, growing with more incredible people session after session. It is indeed an island of humanity in the current AI dominated climate that surrounds all things code.

Participating as a mentee in the Djangonaut Space was a highly valuable experience. The program provided clear, step-by-step guidance on how to navigate the core framework, find the right issues to tackle, and confidently send my PRs.

Beyond the code, the community on Discord was very active, sharing experiences, wins and support. We had access to regular talks, Django Fellows and long-time maintainers who generously shared their time and expertise.

It was a welcoming environment to connect with other newcomers from all over the world, allowing us to share our journeys and learn together. The highlight of the program for me was seeing my first pull request finally merged and mentioned in Django News. I'm looking forward to keep involved as an alumni and help others now.

You get to see how maintainers think about and sustain OSS projects. I was supported by maintainers in the django CMS ecosystem where I made significant feature contributions and fixes alongside my fellow Djangonauts in Team Neptune. I also met lots of music enthusiasts. Other teams and the wider Djangonaut community was always available and friendly offering support and encouragement.

In 2022, I made a quiet but risky decision: I chose Django as my main backend framework. At the time, I had no mentor, no role model close to me using Django, and no concrete proof in my immediate environment that this path would lead anywhere. It was a leap of faith driven by curiosity, values, and a belief in the framework’s philosophy.

Four years later, joining Djangonaut Space (2025 Session 5) felt like the missing piece of that journey. For the first time, I wasn’t learning Django alone. I was surrounded by people who shared the same passion, who had walked the path before me, and who were willing to guide others with kindness and patience.

The program validated years of self-directed effort and transformed uncertainty into confidence. Through mentorship, collaboration, and real open-source contribution, Djangonaut Space gave me not just technical growth, but a sense of belonging I had been searching for since the beginning.

I do wish I had discovered Djangonaut Space earlier — but joining now reminded me that late is truly better than never. This experience reaffirmed my commitment to Django and made me feel, at last, at home in the community I chose years ago.

The session provided a supportive environment where learning was mutual mentors and peers alike shared insights openly, and questions were encouraged. This exposure to global collaboration not only strengthened my technical Django skills but also improved how I work within distributed teams. I left the program with a stronger sense of confidence, adaptability, and respect for inclusive, community-driven software development

The Djangonauts in the program have shown their dedication to the community (be it Django, Python or Open Source Software). I’m happy to invest time and energy into making their experiences smoother and efforts more productive. I can see the various ways that they will take what they learn and reinvest it into our shared communities to make all our lives better. Djangonaut Space, in a way, solves the problem of determining who I can trust with my limited time and energy.

The longer form experience can be found at: https://www.better-simpl…