Contributing to open source projects

[grizzled pollen]

How does one approach contributing to an open source project, is there generally a skill level or experience you should have before contributing, or are there beginner/intermediate friendly ways to get involved? Also, any tips or resources would be really appreciated!
I'm a first year CS student and I've been learning C++ for about 2 years and I'm trying to get real-world experience through this.

[zinc glen]

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[sage tartan]

In general, there is no minimum skill level for contributing. Your contribution can be as small as fixing a typo in a readme file, and no one will mind.
Since you don't have much experience, it would be easier for you to look at small code bases and small issues in them. Or maybe code bases that you are already familiar with, like a library that you are already using or something like that.
Many repositories have instructions for contributors (in the appropriately named CONTRIBUTING file), so you can find explanations for the specific project there.
Some repositories adopt the "good first issue" label, which is for marking issues that should be doable by people with less experience. There are also several websites that track repositories with such issues, like https://up-for-grabs.net/. But you are better off finding a project that interests you and working on that.