Newbies need to add something special to get a merit point. However, even if you get to junior it won't be worth much because the quality of bounties now is so low that many people are giving up. The projects aren't as good as they used to be and bounties and becoming worthless
Earning merit is easy if you are a real contributor to the forum, but being a newbie doesn't mean you don't have a chance to earn in bounty.
OP is making bad decision joining bad projects and ended him with nothing, but he needs to learn quitting is not the solution and that negative mind would never help to improve. As they say, we need to rise every time we fall.