[jnazario]

if you're a student, consider GSoC: https://www.google-melange.com/gsoc/homepage/google/gsoc2015 there you can find existing OSS projects with specific needs outlined, although folks are always in the mood for new ideas, too, if you articulate them well.

if you're not a student, simply look at existing OSS projects that you like and know and look at their outstanding features or needs, or even better identify something like documentation that needs help. documentation requires that you understand the code and the system, and how to present that to the user, but is a bit lower barrier than producing that code. it's a great entry into OSS as you learn to code. submit some changes to the documentation - e.g. a github pull request - and that's a great thing to see. always better than "hey your docs are weak" or "may i work on the docs?" just do it, make some proposals, and begin working with people.

website changes are also nice - e.g. HTML cleanups, CSS cleanups, or even site features. same model, submit changes to the code repository.

hope this helps.