“What’s a Firebase? Can I eat it?”
Hey there, I’m Jacob. I have a B.Sc. in genetics & immunology and I work at an eye disease lab looking at cells under a microscope. I am awful at Python. Yet somehow, one of my top experiences in university was planning some of the biggest hackathons in the Pacific Northwest region with nwPlus. How on earth did I end up here?
First Contact
My initial impression of nwPlus came in my second year at the University of British Columbia (UBC) from their guerilla marketing tactics for nwHacks 2019. My friends were all super excited to attend this “northwest hacks” thing, but I didn’t think much of the club or the events it held. All I knew about nwPlus was that they were a massive tech club on campus. Later that year, nwPlus launched cmd-f. The whole premise around cmd-f and the values it was built on impressed upon me an organization that prides itself on empowering new and traditionally excluded folks to participate in the tech field. nwPlus was now known to me as the hackathon club with an excellent set of values.
Recruitment
Throughout my time at UBC, I have been asked by a few of my friends to join the team at nwPlus but I had always been skeptical that a life science student like me would thrive in a community of people who were so involved with tech. That hesitancy all went away during my fourth year when my friend Mary (Treasurer ’19, special projects ’20), who was also a life science student, devoted an entire hour at a bubble tea shop telling me about how nwPlus “the most wholesome and organized club [she’s] ever been involved with at UBC” and how she had never felt out of place as a non-tech member. At the time, I was heavily involved in another campus organization but her testimonial did pique my interest in getting involved with nwPlus. In March 2020, I filled in an application to be part of the Marketing team at nwPlus.
Welcome to nwPlus
I came aboard nwPlus as an Engagement Coordinator and I felt included in the team from the very first All-Hands meeting. Whatever worries that I would feel out of place the first week weeks quickly dissipated as I was given my first project to spearhead. Nobody questioned if a life science student was capable of marketing toward a more tech-focused audience and the team placed an incredible amount of trust in my work; I felt truly valued as a team member right off the bat.
Throughout the various hackathon and event cycles, the team at nwPlus always made me feel like an important part of the planning process. I experienced my first-ever hackathon from the perspective of a planner and never once was I left alone to deal with something I wasn’t familiar with. Be it the poor nwPlus bot forgetting the question schedule for cmd-f’s Discord Contest or a low attendance rate on my Among Us mini-activity, the team would jump in and help me in whatever way I felt was necessary. In my five years as an undergraduate student, this amount of mutual support that everyone at nwPlus gives to each other is the most healthy and productive team dynamic I have ever experienced in a student organization.
Outside of club business, the folks at nwPlus made a genuine effort to get to know me (shoutout to Kevo for my first-ever Donut date). Everyone was genuinely interested in meeting me and made it a comfortable environment to share my experiences in life science. By the end of the year, a few people would rescue me as I struggle through an introductory course on Python . I’m proud to say that I have met many people in nwPlus that are of the best quality and possess the most immaculate vibes.
As we wrap up 2020/2021 at nwPlus, I want to thank :
- Rebs for being a bomb Marketing Director
- Elaine, Suz, Soph, Alex, and Victoria for the Marketing & Engagement Shenanigans
- A&A for being the most supportive Co-Presidents
- Jacky, Joice, JP and their logistics teams for answering every question I had about everything
- Kevo, Phil, and Carms for the Random Moments of Incredible Peer Support
- Maggie for waiting with me when our building has a fire alarm, and
- Everyone at the nwPlus team for making my foray into the tech field such a rewarding and fulfilling experience.
To those students who aren’t the traditional “tech student” demographic who are looking to venture into an exciting field filled with awesome people, nwPlus is the perfect club to try the waters and find something you like.
We’re hiring for people like you right now. What are you waiting for?
