Hacking It at Facebook Headquarters
College freshman Alexander Molina shares what it was like to join The Teachers Guild’s hackathon at Facebook
by Austin Buchan, Executive Director College Forward.
Earlier this spring, The Teachers Guild hosted a hackathon at Facebook, where teachers and students had the chance to work directly with Facebook designers and engineers. Together they built ideas that were created during The Teachers Guild’s collaboration with First Lady Michelle Obama’s Reach Higher and Better Make Room initiatives. Read about one student’s transformational experience after traveling from Texas to join the event.
The Teachers Guild and the First Lady’s Reach Higher Campaign invited College Forward to attend a 3-hour hackathon at the Facebook Headquarters in Menlo Park, California. I asked Texas State first-year student Alexander Molina to be the voice for over 6,000 College Forward students.
Alex teamed up with Facebook engineers, students and teachers from across the country to design solutions that support students on their journey to and through college. Alex and his team of students started at the base of the problem — getting students to understand the importance of time management and accountability before entering college. The team worked on English teacher Danny Scuderi’s idea College Life Week, a phone-app for high school seniors that requires completion of listed daily chores and tasks.
Alex says College Life Week allows students to compare the demands of their high school life to future college challenges.
“Students will be ready, and know what to expect regarding the demand in work and troubleshooting [for college],” he said.
Before leaving to San Marcos, we asked Alex a few questions about his trip to California:
What was Facebook Like?
I’m from Kyle, so this was a new experience. I didn’t see myself there. Seriously, this was the opportunity of a lifetime. I mostly do local things so venturing somewhere unknown was really exciting. They had free food everywhere. A lot of the students knew each other already, but I was able to talk to teachers from the Teachers Guild organization about higher education for Latino students. Pretty fun.
How will you incorporate what you’ve learned in your daily student life?
I learned the importance of hacking. Hacking is where you take problem-solving ideas and turn them into action. Unlike brainstorming, you’re mostly throwing out ideas, but with Hacking you’re intensely trying to solve the problem in short amount of time. It makes you go deeper to solve the problem. This is something I’ll take back to student government next year, as a Senator. [We need] ideas that won’t get stuck in legislation, so we can work as a cohesive group and compromise.
What encouraging words do you have to share with fellow College Forward students?
Keep moving Forward. You can’t wait around to get something done. Meet people who share the same interests as you and who can help you grow. I want to continue helping people in need. As a Senator, for the next legislative session at Texas State, I plan to help focus on creating a Latino Culture Center so students can feel comfortable when seeking help. Then bring in an immigration lawyer, free of charge, for undocumented students. It’s so hard as a student to continue with classes while searching for the funds to pay lawyer fees.
In the end, I want to help my people!
A version of this blog was originally published at College Forward.
