Hi all, hope you all are doing fine!

I am Beatriz Carvalho, brazilian, living in Fundão, Portugal. I am graduated in computer engineering at Unipampa in Brazil.  I work mostly with C, Python and I am learning JavaScript, CSS, among other things to create this site... I like Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, One Piece, The Witcher... I also like to drink wine and some cocktails and last but not least: I love cats, I have two: Ophélia and Cisco.    

I've just been selected as an Outreachy intern for Linux Kernel working with my mentors Melissa Wen and Daniel Vetter on the project "Improvements to DRI-devel (aka kernel GPU subsystem)".  

As an Outreachy intern, my first step is to say out loud for everyone to see my core values, Outreachy organizers make available a list with some values, and going through the list made me realize some things I value the most in life as an individual and once I started to work in the Linux Kernel these values caught my attention:  

Community  

I grew up inside a religious community, where my family and I always tried our best to help people and the community in general. Then when I started studying about the Linux Kernel, I could enforce this concept, because there you have enthusiasts group (people who want to contribute voluntarily to development) working alongside companies from all over the world, to the development of the kernel, contributing to its evolution and adapting it to different platforms making the Linux Kernel one of the biggest free and open-source projects. Another thing that I think as one of the most important in a community is the chance to learn from one another, specially on feedbacks during the code review process. And of course, the community it's a great place to get to know new (awesome) people, to get job opportunities and (why not) make friends! 

Learning  

Another value that catches my attention in the Kernel is the importance of you are always learning, and trying to get a better understanding on how the project works. Leaving the comfort zone, because often the projects are huge, and sometimes you will have to "burn some (or many) neurons" to understand what you need to do, but on the other hand it is really cool and rewarding when things start to work. 

Responsibility  

And finally, a value I am learning is the responsibility to work on a project as big and complex as the kernel, because a change in a drive that you make, can impact thousands (or would it be millions?) of people who use it. 

During my graduation, I attended several events about open source software, for example, tcheLinux, FISL. I always wished to contribute to the community but finding compatible materials/tutorials for beginners was really hard, mostly because despite being considered for beginners, it always required previous knowledge that were beyond my current skills.  

Then on 2019 I took part in LKCamp (Linux Kernel study group),  where I learned more about Linux Kernel, step-by-step on how to contribute to the community, and on how we could contribute with Open Source Software through internship programs such as Google Summer of Code (GSoC) and Outreachy. By the time, I got really excited about it but couldn't participate on the second stage of selection.  

So, this year I gave my best at the selection process, made some patches and wrote my intern plan together with my mentors. And now that I was selected to Outreachy program, I can't believe that I have got this opportunity to be a part of it! 

Now I need to control my anxiety and work to control the imposter syndrome in order to get the best of this opportunity, absorb all I can, and hopefully get a job to continue work with kernel. 

  Thank you for accompanying me so far, please feel free to comment! And stay tuned to the next chapters of this Saga called Outreachy!! 

Take care and have a great day!