Introduction
Welcome to "My First Hackathon," my very first blog! As the title suggests, this blog is all about my experience participating in my very first hackathon. Hackathons are collaborative events where participants work in teams to develop solutions to real-world problems within a limited timeframe, it can be anywhere between 12-48 hrs. Hackathons a great opportunity to network with like-minded people which can be very beneficial for our personal growth.
As a first-time blogger, I'm excited to share my journey with you. I'll be sharing my experience participating in my first hackathon and also the challenges and lessons learned, as well as I shall be providing tips and advices for anyothers who wants to participate in any upcoming hackathons.
I hope that this blog will not only provide a as an inspiration to get started with hackathons but can also serve as a useful resource for anyone looking to get started with it. So please join me on this exciting journey and let's learn and grow together! Any comments and inputs are highly appreciable.
How I came to know about hackathons
My journey into the hackathons started with my curiosity for new technologies. I had always been interested in learning about the latest trends in tech and attended many twitter spaces about the same. It was during one such space that I first heard about what a hackathon is and the concept of teams working together to build and create something new in a short amount of time. From then on, I became more interested in the idea of participating in a hackathon and it was not very long before I got my first chance. One day, someone from my college sent an invite whatsapp link for diversion2k23 to one of our college groups inviting us to participate in this first mlh hackathon of Kolkata . I took my chance and jumped at the opportunity and ended up having a great experience.
How I convinced my teammates?
One of the toughest part of participating in a hackathon was finding the right team. It was particularly stressful as I learned about the hackathon during my semester exams particularly before my electrical paper. However I wasted no time in reaching out to one of my college mate and asked him to join me for the hackathon hoping to secure at least one teammate.
Finding the other two teammates proved to be a very difficult task. I texted many people from my college and even tried contacting many old schoolmates. I also posted about the hackathon in the group where I got the invitation link of the diversion 2k23 and learned about the hackathon. Despite all these efforts everyone declined the offer to join our team.
After all these attempts we finally managed to put together a team after two more classmate agreed to participate in the hackathon. Nevertheless all the hard work paid off and our team had an unforgettable experience at the hackathon.
What did we build?
During the hackathon, we created a website that allows users to register for various hackathons. Our site featured different categories such as cloud development, cybersecurity, and more. Despite our team members lacking knowledge about the backend and only being familiar with HTML, we still managed to pull through.
As we were working on the registration page, I had an idea for additional functionality of the backend, but our mentor suggested we focus on the existing features instead and not try to do something which we don't know. Our teammate excelled at designing the logo and UI/UX, while my other teammate and I handled the coding. We encountered some hosting issues which was literally frustrating after a while along the way but we persevered and spent a total of 16 hours coding.
Our hard work paid off as both judges appreciated the logo, UI/UX and also the very little animation we did to make the container which holds name of different hackathons along with their niche. However, they also suggested we focus more on functionality, learn back-end as soon as possible and minimize the content. Despite the challenges we faced we were proud of what we accomplished in our first hackathon and the experience gained.
Making new connections and the Swags
My first hackathon was an incredible experience that taught me the value of building new connections. Although the various competitions and chance to win swag made it exciting, the real highlight was meeting new people.
As I reflect on my first hackathon experience, I realize that the most rewarding aspect was undoubtedly the opportunity to connect with a diverse group of individuals. Throughout the event, I made a conscious effort to engage with everyone around me, including the organizers, volunteers, sponsors (such as Jatin Pandya from Zeeve and Ryan Swift from MLH), co-participants, and even first-year students from different colleges, but the highlight was meeting Raihan
It was truly inspiring to see so many like-minded individuals come together to share their passion for technology. We exchanged ideas, discussed the latest web3 technologies, and shared our experiences of overcoming challenges in our respective fields. I particularly enjoyed hearing from others about their journeys and learning from their unique perspectives.
I was fortunate enough to attend two sessions led by Zeeve and 5IRE, which introduced me to exciting new technologies and expanded my knowledge base.
The mentors and judges were also incredibly helpful, providing us with invaluable guidance and advice as we worked on our projects.
Overall, the hackathon provided me with an unforgettable opportunity to learn, grow, and connect with a community of driven individuals who share my passion for innovation. And of course, the swag was pretty cool too, I dumped all those GitHub stickers on my laptop.
When it comes to building connections, my tip is to not hesitate before starting a conversation. There's really nothing to lose.
Conclusion
Participating in my first hackathon was an incredible experience. I met new people, made friends, and learned about exciting new things such as web3 blockchain, new technologies like digital ocean Zeeve mlh. After attending this event I realized that taking the first step is crucial, and I would suggest others to prepare for the problem and have a basic idea of what they want to build, they should always opt for a tech stack they are confidence about, to avoid problems during the hackathon. Additionally, selecting the right team is vital. Connecting with people and being open to criticism is important and can make the experience more enjoyable. Don't hesitate to seek guidance from mentors, they are there to help you. These types of events can be an immense source of exposure and provide an opportunity to learn new things. Overall, I would encourage anyone to participate in a hackathon because it can be an unforgettable and rewarding experience in many ways.