Hey mmorganj,
First of all, welcome to the community. It's great seeing people mature and getting off repacks, I just don't find one single benefit to repacks and It's even better when people come up (like you ) that want to contribute, even if it's for self learning, temporary experience, or being selfless in giving back to the very community that you seem to recognize. We can take all the help we can get, regardless of experience or background!
Now, with that said, I personally think the best way to get started is with the basic scripts. Learning to modify, change, or even add new scripts for quests, spells, events, etc... If you are experienced with C++, learning C++, or just getting your feet wet for the first time with it, would be the best way to get the ball rolling.
With MySQL or any database, can be a breeze if you have the right tools to learn, and for the common person investing time can pick it up in a few weeks.. I personally use mysql client on Linux. Again, another personal experience to dive into learning how mysql works on an advanced aspect. For beginners, I think a lot of people use Windows and HeidiSQL is simple and easy since HeidiSQL (mysql gui) has a script output window that is very transparent on the exact commands it's doing while navigating through the GUI. If you would rather just jump into using Linux through a terminal client and get more advanced, let me know and I can get you started with those basic commands to get that ball rolling. Personally just not a Windows fan
Getting started, Well... there is so much to get going:
How to (to get going)
The issues we have (up to you on your pace for assisting), dissect how spells, waypoints, etc. work
SAI Scripts, this link has tools, questions, and basic understanding on how they work, etc..
Additional utilities (specifically for TC community to improve the experience and make it easy)
To be honest this community doesn't really teach how to code, but more of on what needs help and improvement. I would start by learning the basics of C++ like pointers, classes structs, etc...
If you choose to code something up, don't forget that we have standards before submitting a Pull Request (Code review) for the devs to research over before adding to the master (or flavor of branch you want to contribute)