Finding where you’re celebrated
A short story about my first hackathon
Over the weekend, I went to my first hackathon. For the uninitiated, a hackathon is an event where people from all backgrounds come together and try to “hack” together a solution to solve a thematic problem. You then pitch your idea to a panel of judges in the industry and they will decide whose pitch is best.
This hackathon was called SexTech. It encouraged us to build solutions to explore problems relating to sexual health. I was definitely out of my comfort zone, not just because it was my first hackathon but also because of all the open, honest discussions relating to sexual health.
I met a range of amazing people: entrepreneurs, disability workers, film makers, developers, sexologists, industrial designers, service designers, UX designers. There were also a couple of trans people and one who identified as they/them.
I realised that for a lot of these people, such an event was a rare place where they could not only feel welcomed, but even celebrated. When they took the stage to share their experiences and ideas, they harboured no fear. It was inspiring to see and made me think about how I could be more inclusive.
Long story short, I didn’t win the hackathon (my idea with another partner was to create a VR education system for young males to redirect the search process from porn to something more wholesome), but I felt the experience was amazing and so worthwhile.
