Hey there! I’m Derek Joel Castillo Quirós, a Computer Systems Engineering student at Universidad Fidélitas in San José, Costa Rica. This blog is where I’ll be documenting my experience in the WPCredits program — a university initiative where students make real, verifiable contributions to the WordPress open source ecosystem as part of our coursework.

When my professor first explained the program, I had a mix of curiosity and honest uncertainty. Contributing to a global open source project as a university student felt like a big step. But the more I thought about it, the more I realized it was exactly the kind of hands-on experience I’d been looking for.

Why WPCredits?

I’ve always believed that the best way to learn is by doing something that actually matters. Not a simulated exercise, not a sandbox project that disappears after the semester — something real. WPCredits gives you that. The contributions you make go into software that powers over 40% of the websites on the internet. That’s not a small thing.

Why Polyglots?

I had four areas to choose from: Photos, Polyglots, Core, and Captions/Subtitles. I ruled out Core early — while I enjoy programming, contributing to WordPress core requires a deep understanding of the codebase that I haven’t built yet. Photos wasn’t the right fit either.

Polyglots caught my attention immediately. I’m bilingual — I use English and Spanish every day — and the idea of making WordPress more accessible to Costa Rican users felt genuinely meaningful. Every string I translate goes directly into a plugin or theme that real people use. That’s a contribution I can see and measure.

What’s Next

Over the coming weeks I’ll be translating strings from WordPress plugins into Costa Rican Spanish (es_CR), completing the onboarding courses on Learn WordPress, and documenting every step of the process right here. I’m aiming to contribute quality translations, not just quantity.

If you’re curious about open source contribution or you’re also going through WPCredits, feel free to reach out. Let’s figure this out together.

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Derek Joel Castillo Quirós · WPCredits Program · Universidad Fidélitas · Costa Rica