The word hackathon when I first heard it sounded a bit verbatim. It's composed of a combination of the words "hack" and "marathon". Being new into the software engineering world I had took the chance to attend my first hackathon but also unknowingly be judged by some of the tech-industry professionals. I wanted to write this article to share my experience and some key takeaways from being part of General Assembly's Live Online May 2021 Hackathon.

First off, when referring to the word hackathon, there can me a misconception that this event is for developers only. You hear the word "hack" and you may assume that there's this elite number of software engineers attempting to hack some piece of high tech with some white-glove, fort-knox security software, this is not the case. This event is meant to bring not only software engineers from around the globe together, but data scientist, UX/UI designers, to work together and solve a real-life issue. You are working with some of the most brilliant and passionate minds that truly seeking to build an innovative solution within an allotted timeframe - usually 24 to 72 hours. With that being said I would like to introduce the first takeaway:

Communicate often and frequently

Unlike developing software for an employer or as a side project, you are only allowed a small timeframe to come up with a proof of concept to an actual working prototype. You are set in small groups in a unique environment that encourages critical and creative thinking, collaborative innovation, and most important - meaning. There are hackathons that you you get to choose who you may want to work with and others that you are assigned into a team. This is why communication is very crucial when attending. Despite its chaotically fast and short-lived nature – with many teams working through sleepless night(s) – it forces participants to focus on an issue and think about innovations with a diverse set of inputs. Collaboration will bring out the best in each other as it allows you pitch ideas across teammates and believe me when I say this, you will learn something new. And truth be told, you will also make friends while working with each other in such a short timeframe.

Speak up and express your ideas and thoughts

Prior to hackathon starting, you will either get a chance to review the real-life issue that your team is trying to solve or it will be announced on the day of the event. Luckily for me, I was told prior to the hackathon beginning and assigned to a team as well so I will only be reflecting to that experience. When given the problem on the day of and the cross-team engagement, it can feel at times that you may not have been heard. There are so many great ideas and astonishingly agile minds that you can't be afraid to speak up or even ask for help. At the end of the day, it's a competition and the only way to stay on top is that teams must be able to develop a strategy, bounce ideas off each other, borrow other teams’ thoughts and methodologies, share information and skills and often end up at a solution far different from the one they envisaged at the start. This is a great way to improve not only your technical skills but as behavioral as well for those future tech interviews to come.

Practice on your lingo/ Pair programming is key

Working in a team of software developers, you will quickly come to realize the different frameworks or languages each one feels most comfortable programming with. Especially in this hackathon that you are not the only software engineer in your team. You must quickly get comfortable sharing your code or adapting to the language that your team is more feasible to achieve given the timeframe. This is also a great opportunity not only as a student learning new code, but as a mentor and help your fellow programmers understand your code and your methodology on why a certain language is easier given the criteria. Collaboration not only helps us solve problems but also: brings people closer together, helps people learn from each other, boosts morale across your organization, and us more efficient workers.

Last but not least, Everyone is a Winner

As cliche that this may sound, it is very important and very true. Even thought the hackathon is a competition, the people you get to meet and work with, the experience, and the learning curve is unparalleled to even consider deeming a winner or loser. A hackathon will challenge you immensely but can also influence oneself personally and professionally to come out better than what they were prior to joining the hackathon.