You could start by triaging issues, something that is very tedious for maintainers, especially on small projects. More than that, you can look at each issue and try to see if you can identify the problems. You may find you are better than you think.
There isn't a level you need to be to contribute - it may feel like that because on higher profile projects most of the low hanging fruit has already been addressed.
Beyond that, there's a skill you learn here - practice communicating professionally (sometime people are submitting issues when they are extremely frustrated), concisely, and clearly (sometimes you need to speak highly technically, other times speaking with a management voice is needed)
In the same vein, there's plenty of poorly documented READMEs and wikis, other areas you can contribute, and skills that are very important.
Strong communication and writing skills can level you up over better developers.
(I'm a self taught developer from the late 90s)