Tackling My First Hackathon with TechTogether Seattle
Keri was desperately looking to participate in her first hackathon, but wanted to ensure it was inclusive and diverse — and not just cis-male dominated. That’s when she discovered TechTogether Seattle, thanks to her Computer Science teacher.
Not only did she love her first experience at a gender-inclusive hackathon, but she won a major prize. Read below an in-depth article of Keri’s experience. If you’re interested in participating in our next hackathon, register for TechTogether Miami here.
TechTogether Seattle was my first ever experience at a hackathon and let me tell you, I was absolutely nervous. Although you didn’t have to know how to code and could make a mockup design of what the intended outcome was, I felt on edge as I had just started learning the basics of Python in school.
A teacher at my school shared the link in Discord that we use for all Computer Science classes to communicate, stating that it was for marginalized genders of all ages. When I saw that it was an inclusive community, I thought “why the heck not” and clicked on the event sign up link.
Despite me never participating in something like this, I always wanted to but felt that it would just be a cis-male dominant space and never quite felt comfortable enough to come out of my shell.
I am lucky enough to say that there are women in my Computer Science classes that still have similar sentiments that STEM is a male-dominant industry. I tried to find places where I could find other women in technology, or even those like me that are a part of the LGBTQ+ community, but always ended up in spaces where cis-men were the leading force.
As much as I enjoy some of the knowledge that some users within other communities bestowed on me, I never felt quite comfortable enough to ask questions. It almost felt like I needed to already be a pro to have any kind of voice in their servers. That all changed when I clicked on the event sign-up for TechTogether Seattle.
Despite still being very much a competitive space, TechTogether Seattle made sure everyone and anyone was having a fun, informative time. I started off watching a ton of panels, absorbing as much information as I could, while also taking notes of attendees. It was heartwarming and reassuring to see so many women and non-binary attendees; it was like opening my eyes to the side of tech I had always been searching for.
In one of the panels, where we went to “break the ice,” I ended up making a few friends along the way, some of which I was able to add as friends through the TechTogether Seattle Discord.
Two panels in particular stuck out the most: a panel on inclusivity when designing projects and the LGBTQ+ panel. The inclusivity panel had some amazing speakers, talking about the importance of making sure pages are inclusive for everyone. They highlighted tools we could use, such as allowing “tab” to get a user from top to bottom in a webpage just by clicking it repeatedly. They even showed how to include alternative text for those unable to see the images.
At the end, I happened to mention how my afro and background filters weren’t getting along. Next thing I know, two people from Microsoft were reaching out to me to text their background filters as they wanted to make sure their video conferencing software was more inclusive to those who looked like me.
At the LGBTQ+ panel, we were able to ask those in tech that identify as LGBTQ+ how they their everyday professional lives within a cis-male dominant industry. A lot of personal, heart wrenching stories came out and it left me and a few other attendees in tears and reaching out to one another. It was so relieving (and saddening) to hear others had gone through similar situations as mine. However, I still hadn’t made the ultimate leap: participating in a hack.
A near and dear friend of mine gently encouraged me to “just go for it” as they knew that if anything, I would learn so much from the experience. With a ton of anxiety, despite it being all virtual, I obliged and took a leap of faith.
I went into the team-formation text channel of Discord and basically stated that I was a total and utter noob, and that if anyone didn’t mind me tagging along, that would be awesome. Lo and behold, someone reached out and I now had a teammate.
Our challenge we decided to take on was the Capital One Best Financial Hack Challenge. As two broke college students, we decided to *try* to make something that would’ve benefited us when we were first applying for school. Thus, the Pathway Calculator was born.
We created the Pathway Calculator with the goal for users to input their chosen major, whether they were undergraduate or graduate, as well as their residency status: resident or non-resident. It would then narrow down to a list of schools to show the ones that would give the user the most “bang for their buck.” The user could then input any loans they would have to take out and have the monthly payments they should expect (with their career’s intended income) calculated so that they could then determine if it was the best financial option for their situation.
My partner utilized her skills with Java, and I utilized my minimal skills of Python, to start giving the calculator some shape. Our team also utilized the handy dandy help of one of the available mentors who pointed me in the right direction for my Google search to help better piece together ideas for my code.
At this point in the hackathon, we learned about Figma in a panel and had decided to use it to help create the mockup as we slowly realized we had bitten off a little more than we could chew with the allotted amount of time.
Our team then created a cute little PowerPoint with our voices over it to explain what the project was, while also including snippets of our basic loan calculator I had created with Python. All we could do at the end was cross our fingers (and shake a whole bunch because anxiety is one hell of a thing).
With my anxiety in full swing, I tuned into the closing ceremony on Twitch, passing around the link to those that I wanted to be there with me. Winner after winner was announced and the little intrusive thoughts started to creep in but were quickly cut off when the announcers asked the audience for a drum roll for the Captial One Best Financial Hack winners.
My heart felt like it was going to leap out of my chest in anticipation! “The winner is: The Pathway Calculator!” I’m pretty sure I made some awful screeching noise when I leapt out of my chair and started dancing. I quickly messaged my teammate, “we did it!!!!!!!” while zooming around my apartment, slightly annoying my roommate.
Despite never having done anything like this before, having severe social anxiety, and initially being afraid to even fully participate, I did. I am so thankful for the experience, for all of the amazing panels that TechTogether Seattle had available.
I am so thankful for the mentors available at all odd hours of the night, for the event coordinators, and for the sponsors. Without them, this wouldn’t have even been possible. I had such a great time; I made great new friends, and I learned so much about tech and myself.
This event reassured me that there is a space for those like me in tech and that the future is heading towards inclusivity. I am looking forward to participating in future, inclusive, hackathons. Thank you, TechTogether Seattle.
Interested in attending a hackathon and getting access to more articles like this one? Subscribe to TechTogether’s bi-weekly newsletter. 💡
