MHacks IV, my first Hackathon: I wouldn't trade it for anything

Truth is, I was rejected from MHacks IV. I can prove it, I even have an email! I can’t say at that moment I really knew what I’d be missing, in fact, if that had been that, I’d still be the same lost and alone person I've been for a long year if misfortune that was my senior year of high school. My point is, I had read about hackathons, and I’d heard about them from friends, and they’d all said they were fun, but that’s it. I had no idea, no idea what it was to be a part of one.

A few months before, I had first heard about hackathons, when a few friends of mine invited me to join their team for HackGT, since one of our high school friends was an organizer and had suggested we all go. I read about it, and it seemed awesome, had a cool team, thought “ok, HackGT is going to be a fun hackathon, nice one time thing.” And then, I got invited to the Hackathon Hackers Facebook group, and I started to see a whole new type of people. A funny, friendly community that I’d never known existed. Just a year before, I had been a part of a community which I unfortunately had to leave, and it left me very alone through my last year of high school. That year was one of the worst I can remember, full of disappointments and sorrow, but it all changed.

I started feeling a bond for that community, started seeing how welcoming they were, and started making posts and comments on the group, quickly feeling at home. I’d always loved to code, but I’d never really had a group for it, I wasn't even a CS major. So I made a decision: I was gonna try this hackathon thing, why not, right? So I applied to MHacks. So I applied to HackGT. So I applied to CalHacks, and BigRed//Hacks, and YHacks, and every hackathon that still had open applications (Sorry HackMIT and PennApps X, I’d have tried too if I wasn't too late.). I got rejected from a bunch, at least at first. BigRed//Hacks was the first to say “no” and it started to feel like college apps all over again, rejected. Then came MHacks rejecting me as well. I wasn't surprised, after having a senior year full of college rejections, it was nothing new. Perhaps my hackathon career had ended before it even began.

And then I received this one little email, about a challenge for people like me, a chance to prove we could hack and contribute, the MHacks Codility challenge. Now a lot of people hate the notion of a challenge to get into a hackathon, but it was my saving grace. The email said there were spots reserved for some high and perfect scorers, so I made sure I was ready for anything. I took the challenge, flew through the first problem easily, and then while I didn't get the perfect answer for the second, I still made it work, and this was apparently enough, because a week and a half later, I got an email saying that made me feel like a Kelly Clarkson song,

“Guess this means you’re sorry

You’re standing at my door

Guess this means you take back

All you said before”

And I didn't hesitate, after emailing back and forth and finding out that unfortunately I wouldn't get any travel reimbursement, I said, “Fuck it” (a phrase I later learned was only half of a larger one) and bought plane tickets anyways. MHacks IVwas going to be amazing.

I went in trying to have a plan for everything, but it seems those have a funny way of not working the way you planned them, sometimes for the better sometimes for the worse, but this time, for the better. I talked to a few people online, tried to make a team. I knew I was getting there a bit late, and that I’d need to have a team early. I formed a team online, people seemed nice, enthusiastic, and everything I wanted. And yet, the first sign of trouble was when one of my teammates messaged on a group chat that he had found a better team, while I was on the bus from DTW to MHacks.

So what’s a person to do when they lost a teammate? Well replace them of course, and I looked to the guy sitting in front of me, a person I’d been talking to for over 20 minutes, a kid named Ryan from Georgia Tech, very friendly. So I asked, “want to join my team, friend?” and to my surprise, he said yes! I had a teammate again, but this was far from over. After I got to MHacks, I walked through the free swag, grabbed some shirts, some cool stickers, and sat down in a seemingly random room, next to a few people at an open seat. Just started to talk to them, the person to my right was a girl named Megan from Harvard, a friendly person from the start, and I quickly made the offer, if she’d like to work with me too. And she also agreed! Within a few minutes, while we were discussing ideas, a mysterious man by the name of Morgante came over to us, sporting a unique name and dozens of hackathons as experience, and helped us think of ideas, brainstorm and plan.

Soon, we were laughing and planning and we came up with a project I’d never have envisioned myself. As soon as it was good to go, we started coding, around midnight. Problems resolved themselves, questions were answered by people around us and the legendary dragon we call Google as well as our mentor and savior Morgante. We unraveled our problems, while gulping down bottles of Red Bull (or was that just me?). We got to know one another both professionally and personally, because how can you sit next to a person for hours and hours and not learn a lot about them? We all connected as if we were old friends in hours, developing a dynamic where we worked together, and every problem we had we solved promptly.

As the night and then the day progressed, I felt a deep bond to my teammates, who were brilliantly working, and I as well, never had I had this much fun working on some random little project! Never had I met such friendly people, never had I felt so much energy in one place from all the people around me! Even at midnight, all the teams were buzzing with work, everywhere, people were lined up to get coffee if they were cold, and soon the casualties emerged, the few who fell asleep, nearly dead. I was not among them, my team was relentless, we kept working, and our project came together quickly and beautifully, though the finishing touches only came together at the eleventh hour. The feeling was that of a natural high, where despite missing more and more speed, I still felt ever the more energetic. Despite the fact that there was a medical emergency and a teammate had to leave, the project turned out great, and I wouldn’t trade my team for anything.

On Sunday, I learned how hard it is to pitch something to judges. My team and I worked hard to explain our project and demo it to people, to show how it worked, to convince them it’s something useful. I did get better at it, and by the 10th time we presented it to anyone, my team had it flowing from one person to another, like a strong river. We must have presented our project 20 or more times, not all too judges, but it was fun and exhausting at the same time. By the time we got to the awards ceremony, I wanted to sleep, near my 55th hour without sleep, but I saw all the other projects that were way cooler than mine get demoed, and I understood why I didn't get a prize, and I’m not even mad. How can I be, when the things people came up with were so stunning! All I could do was clap till my hands hurt because honestly, how else do you say “That sir is brilliant! Fantastic!” ? After 60 hours without sleep, I wouldn't have given even one of them up for anything.

MHacks was THE hackathon for me, my very first. I’ll never forget this, not one day, I swear. I couldn't have asked for a better team, or a better mentor, or a better weekend, I've never had a weekend so completely amazing as MHacks IV was for me. I've never had a more amazing weekend, and anyone who says hackathons aren't the single best way to spend a weekend haven’t lived yet. I don’t understand how people can turn down going to them anymore. I just can’t think of a single good reason, short of being unable to afford it. If I could, I’d go to a hackathon every weekend. I learned more at this hackathon than I learned in the previous several months for sure, and I had more fun. I finally found a group to belong to, after being alone for most of a year, I found people who accept me, who I enjoy being around. I count the hours to my next hackathon, HackGT, and regret that I didn't sign up for PennApps, because this weekend is just going to be boring compared to hackathons. Now, all those rejected hackathons, and the ones I want to go to, such as BigRed//Hacks who turned me down, CalHacks who costs a lot to go to and I’m trying to find a way to go to, HackNY which a mentor recommended, YHacks (something I’m still holding my breath for, since it’d give me a chance to reunite with my teammate Megan) HackPrinceton, which I await eagerly to open applications, and of course, MHacks V which is already on my mind. All of these are now so much more personal, so much more important to me. After MHacks, I have a inexplicable desire to just get out there, take a few people, and make something, and not stop till it’s amazing. There’s no feeling like that anywhere else, for any other reason.

I learned a lot from MHacks, I just want to go to every hackathon possible now, if I’d only get in! I couldn't have asked for a better team or a better mentor for my first hackathon. I've learned so much and had the most fun in one weekend ever, didn't even know I could have so much fun in one weekend. My new favorite phrases are “Hell Yeah!” and “Fuck it, ship it!” My life will never be the same, now that hackathons have become a part of it. Anyone who hasn't tried hackathons is missing out on something amazing! Thank you, thank you for changing my life for the better! I can’t wait to see what’s around the corner at HackGT!