I had basically always known about Boost since I started C++ dev, which I only really started once I wanted to start using multithreading in some C code I was working on. My first actual experience with Boost wasn't really that great. I tried using one library, saw it took so long to compile I was *sure* that I was using the library completely incorrectly and then promptly put Boost down and then never used it again. Then I joined the cpplang slack. It turned out that I knew basically no real C++. Conversations with all the members there really helped me deepen and solidify my understanding. But what's more, I had always been attracted to library development. That's when I met this guy named Glen Fernandes. He would basically talk about how Boost had already solved all the problems in library development in cross-platform ways and that's when I really started to like Boost. What attracted me to Boost was that the libraries were incredibly high quality and had really cool solutions to problems in C++. Honestly, so much of the C++ world would be better if we had standardized something like Config and Core. Now I'm a staff engineer at the C++ Alliance and I love it. I get to work with some of the best C++ engineers in the world and I helped deliver a hash table faster than Abseil's implementation and there's even more exciting libraries in development as well. I enjoy honing my skills and Boost is a good proving ground. So I guess tl dr: it was entirely the mentorship aspect that pulled me in. - Christian