Autumn is my favorite season in Minnesota. Something about the cooler temps and crisp air, the leaves changing color and falling from the trees, giving the air a familiar smell, and a crunch underfoot when heading out for a brisk walk. One of my favorite things about October in particular is that it is the home to Hacktoberfest, an event that encourages everyone to participate in open-source! Whether you’re a veteran programmer, or brand new to coding, Hacktoberfest offers a great opportunity to connect with open-source projects you know and use, explore new projects, add new features or enhancements, squash bugs, fix typos, clarify documentation, or draw that diagram that really helps a project community understand what the project’s goals are!