My eyelids feel as if weights are attached to them after the long weekend but the work I accomplished is more fulfilling than I ever imagined!
This was my reply when someone asked me about GiveCamp Memphis 2019, a hackathon event that builds websites and tools for charities. I went in with the goal of learning something new, to network with other programmers, and to build something that will help others. I came out with a new perspective on how programming can help the community.
From Day One at GiveCamp Memphis 2019, well-established veteran programmers were willing to answer my questions and educate me on new methods and concepts I have never been exposed to. There were programmers from almost every major company in Memphis, all with the unifying goal of trying to help local nonprofits increase their online presence. Teams at the Hackathon assisted them in building their websites so that they could help people outside of our reach. As part of one of these teams, I got a glimpse of life as a programmer: I participated in my first Agile stand up (status meeting to address problems), started using WordPress (a website creation tool), worked with a user interface designer, and discovered multiple free online resources for building websites. Altogether these tools helped me and my team to create a website for a charity.
Yet while learning all of these new skills and resources was stimulating, the Hackathon was also mentally taxing. From Friday to Sunday we worked hard to recreate someone’s vision from whiteboard to a deployed working product. That means lots of caffeine, late nights, delicious catered food, tons of discussion, and working on a very tight time schedule. I came in with no previous experience with WordPress. I felt like I was more of a speed bump than an asset to the team. I was disappointed that I could not contribute as much as I wanted. Luckily, I was given the time and instruction to learn WordPress, and managed to get up to speed. Additionally, I am quite the recluse, so I am not usually used to interacting with people I do not personally know. Even though I was quiet, they welcomed me warmly into the team and gave me all the help needed to do well with the task I was given. My team gave me plenty of personal space, time to reflect, and plenty of warm smiles.
In the end, the joy of demonstrating a finished product and seeing the big smile on the charity founder’s face was well worth the effort. We did it! We had transferred our client’s content from an older site into an accessible, mobile-friendly WordPress site. We modernized the web pages, made them more focused on services, and showed the client how to update the website’s content on her own. In all of this, not only did I gain new skills and experiences, I also got a front row seat to a group of amazing programmers building things to help others.
Hackathons are exciting opportunities for new programmers, and I hope that one day you will have the same opportunity to experience an event like this!
