Hello, my name is Juan Pablo León. I am a web developer, and a few months ago I had the opportunity to begin my journey in Drupal through the IXP program of the Drupal community at the company DigitalProjex.

The purpose of this post is to share my experience and encourage others to explore similar paths, as I believe this can be a valuable opportunity for many developers.

Before this adventure, I already had some programming knowledge, especially in PHP and Symfony. However, I barely knew what a CMS was, let alone Drupal. Today, thanks to this experience, I am not only building functional websites, but I am also growing professionally every day, both with my team and within the amazing Drupal community.

Even though I had no prior experience with Drupal, I was always curious about how CMS platforms that promised to handle everything from a visual interface really worked. While that is partly true, when deeper customization is required, it’s not enough to just manage the visual interface. That’s where concepts such as Hooks, Custom Modules, and Configuration Management come into play.

The mentorship opportunity came from a former colleague who informed me that the company was looking for new talent. Once they explained the process to me, I was thrilled, as they offered me structured training as a Drupal developer along with financial compensation for my efforts.

The learning process was divided into three main phases. The first focused on site building, to understand how the CMS works at a visual level, which served as the foundation for the next stage.

The second phase focused on preparing me as a backend developer, where I truly understood the importance of having site-building knowledge and the power of contributed and custom modules, along with the other tools Drupal offers. These phases didn’t present major difficulties, though understanding how custom modules work and the possibilities they open was particularly important. The same was not true for the third phase.

The third phase was centered on the practical application of everything I had learned, which represented a significant challenge. During this stage, I contributed to the development of the company’s Internal Management System by expanding its functionalities, and I also helped build a website for a football club. My main tasks included:

Internal Management System

• Learning the entire YouTrack workflow to integrate with the company’s processes and track tasks and deadlines.
• Setting up development environments tailored to each project.
• Managing active site configurations using the contributed module Config Development.
• Creating Views to manage employee data.
• Resolving issues for contributed modules on Drupal.org as part of the IXP initiative, mainly with the lite_youtube module.
• Developing a custom module to generate exportable employee profiles (similar to CVs).

Football Club Website

• Creating and configuring a base theme for the site.
• Using contributed modules to extend Drupal core functionalities.
• Building custom modules when higher levels of customization were needed.
• Theming the main sections of the site.

Of all these tasks, the most challenging were contributing to issues on Drupal.org—because it’s not just about solving a bug, but also understanding the community workflow and its organized process for resolution, which ensures consistency across contributions. Another challenge was creating custom modules, since that required mastering concepts like hooks, services, and core architecture. Fortunately, with the constant guidance of my mentor, Rubisel Prieto, and the DigitalProjex team, I was able to overcome these obstacles more easily. The same applied to theming templates, as this required adherence to both Drupal’s structure and the company’s standards.

Participating in this program was a turning point for me. I grew not only technically, but also professionally. There were key moments that made me realize just how much progress I had made.

My first big milestone was contributing to an issue on Drupal.org. Understanding the workflow—from proposing a solution to seeing it implemented—was a huge achievement. I realized that my work could have a real impact, not just on an internal project, but on the global Drupal community. That gave me a level of confidence I didn’t have before.

The continuous feedback from my mentor and colleagues was also essential. It wasn’t only about correcting mistakes, but about understanding why things are done in a certain way. I learned that good code is not just functional, but also clear and maintainable for others.

Now, when I face new challenges, I no longer feel paralyzed by inexperience. Instead, I get excited about the opportunity to learn. I have gone from being a beginner to becoming an active contributor in the company, capable of solving problems and providing solutions. And all of this has been possible thanks to the mentorship opportunity.

If I had to highlight the most valuable lessons learned, they would be:

• Understand the difference between active configurations, site-building, and code in Drupal.
• Always check contributed modules first—what you’re trying to build might already exist.
• Don’t be afraid to ask questions; nobody starts out as an expert.
• Mentorship itself is enough; don’t wait until you have experience to apply.

I know that the steep learning curve is what often discourages new developers from diving into Drupal. But with the right motivation, it’s absolutely possible. In my case, the opportunity came, and I seized it. Looking back, I realize that if I had joined the Drupal.org community earlier and immersed myself in learning the CMS, I could have had this opportunity sooner. Effort always pays off, and knowledge is always welcome. Plus, demand for Drupal developers continues to grow.

Finally, I want to thank my mentor and the entire DigitalProjex team for their support and for giving me this opportunity. To anyone just starting out, here’s my advice: your lack of experience does not define your future. What matters is showing up, staying eager to learn, and saying “yes” to the right opportunities. This mentorship changed my path—it could change yours too.