My First Hackathon Experience 🚀
No Hacking at a Hackathon?
I thought there would be some ethical hacking, maybe some industry cybersecurity talks, things along those lines. What I discovered this weekend was that Hackathon should really be called a code fest as that’s exactly what goes on at these event spaces.
I attended my first hackathon at Mira Costa College this last weekend and I will say it changed my perspective on tech once again. Before going to that event I would’ve assumed everyone in there are some degree of anti-social or unwelcoming in general. What I experienced was an introduction into my future career field that was very much my type of initiation ritual. I learned through walking through the proverbial fire and diving into the deep end. If I had another choice I would do it all over again.
The Challenge
The very first challenge I faced was that I had no team on arrival and I was maybe one of the three African Americans in the room or event. Thankfully I have skills when it comes to this. I found a team within five minutes at the team formation time/meetup.
After getting a team the real work started - we had to decide what we were going to do. After brainstorming we went with an idea that resonated with me pretty well.
“Vibe Coding” 🤖
I didn’t expect to be of any use when it came to contributing towards the actual coding once I figured out it was a code fest. I have never taken any classes on anything computer science related yet. I have only coded things through the infamous “vibe coding” method as I don’t see a reason to write boilerplate code.
I do think if I am compelled to write code then I will, but if I can read code and understand it and also be able to manage what I want from code, then I will not write any code myself.
I was very happy to see the Hackathon allowed AI usage, had an AI vibe coding talk for an hour and also AI was one of the tracks to compete for.
Key Takeaways đź’ˇ
All in all I feel I needed to go to this event just to know that:
- ✨ You don’t have to be perfect
- ✨ You don’t have to be an expert
- ✨ You just need to be brave enough to start
Many things and the rest will follow. After being unsure I’m very happy I decided to just attempt. I had to drive an hour to San Diego but I met so many people and I realized I’m more like them than I imagined.
Final Thoughts
Whenever you have a choice to do something new and scary I recommend you do it and then ask yourself: was all that fear rational or just the ancient part of your brain trying to save you with limited info?
I want to thank all the event helpers and coordinators for setting up such an experience for Community College students. One day I will look back at this experience as a turning point.
This hackathon was more than just code - it was about community, courage, and taking that first step into the unknown. 🌟