How to communicate effectively with Mentors in GSOC and reduce FOMO?

[channi23]

I’m a student exploring GSoC and trying to contribute meaningfully, but I’ve been feeling quite overwhelmed with the whole process.

In the beginning, I struggled a lot with understanding how to navigate everything ,choosing the right organization, reading and interpreting documentation, figuring out where to start contributing, and understanding what mentors expect from us. While going through this, I also felt a lot of anxiety and FOMO, especially seeing how experienced other contributors seem.

I believe many students who come to GSoC every year might be facing the same confusion and pressure, especially beginners who are new to open source.

So I’m asking this here as a community discussion:
How can students communicate more effectively with mentors during this phase, and what can we do to reduce this confusion and FOMO while still learning and contributing properly?

Any guidance, best practices, or advice from mentors and experienced contributors would really help rookies like me have a smoother and more confident GSoC journey.

[jdesrosiers]

I think the best advice you're likely to get is from your peers, but I can give some advice as a maintainer/mentor. Keep in mind that mentors are very busy, especially during this time. So, be thoughtful in your communications and contributions. If you're going to message a mentor, make sure you have something meaningful to say and don't waste their time. That means ask well thought out and specific questions. Asking open-ended questions like "how do I get started" is lazy and isn't likely to get a response. Go read the contributing guide. Ask your peers in the #gsoc slack channel. If we can see that you're trying, we're going to be helpful. If it looks like you didn't put any effort into solving your problem or answering your own question, you aren't likely to get a response.