Hackathon 101
(Ever wonder what does the term “Hackathon” mean? All of your friends have been participating and winning very attractive prizes but you are not? Well, this is something that you should read.)
I’m sure that many of you have heard the term “Hackathon” and the first picture that came to your mind was hacking into someone’s system using a terminal.
But let me assure you, “We don’t do that here.”
Hackathon is all about solving a problem within a certain period of time. It can be within 24, 48 hours to a couple of weeks. It varies in different hackathons. All you have to do is form a team, build a solution to the problem statement within that time limit. The solution can be a website, an application, or even a prototype explaining your idea. And then finally present your project/idea in front of judges.
See, it’s that simple. But it isn’t. Developing a solution and building a website or application within a short period of time is also a very challenging task. You don’t know what are some unexpected problems or errors that you might be dealing with. Your project can be perfect but may give you some errors while deploying or hosting it(which is very time-consuming if you’re using some other hosting platforms other than GitHub Pages).
Hackathon also makes you push your limits, generate creative ideas and solutions, learn time management, and work in a team. Before that, you might be sitting on your couch binge-watching movies/series, but in hackathons, you’ll be working all day and night long without sleep which is very exciting and tiring too. Don’t worry, the organizing team has got your back. For that, they have many workshops, gaming sessions, fun, and interactive sessions to cheer you up. During these moments, you will realize your superpowers about which you weren’t aware of.
In every hackathon, there are an Organizing team, Sponsors, Mentors, and participants(aka hackers 🤓😎). The organizing team takes care of the whole system during the entire span. Sponsors are organizations who invest money and also lookout for the best talents (who knows you might get a job/internship offer from the sponsors). Mentors are experienced folks who are always there to help and guide you throughout the hackathon, you can reach out to mentors if you face any technical difficulties or you have any doubt regarding your presentation. They’ll be more than happy to assist.
You’ll learn a lot more in those 24 hours than you have imagined. It’s a great place to do networking. Networking is the best thing about hackathons which I love the most. I have met a lot of resourceful people and made friends too. Hackathons also open the doors to many developer communities. Join those communities and get involved in the discussions, events and you’ll get a lot of exposure and opportunities that you haven’t imagined.
Do you want to have all the fun here only? By reading? You should probably check out many past, ongoing, upcoming hackathons on platforms like Devfolio, Devpost, MLH. You should go for it no matter what. Then you’ll realize what you’ve been missing. There’s no guarantee that you will win your first hackathon, so what? You have experience now and perform better in the next one. Eventually, your desk will be filled up with a lot of attractive prizes and swags. You just have to keep a growth mindset and take care of your health.
