My resolution for 2021 was to attend a hackathon every month, to grow my network and skills. By the time I wrote this, I'd done three — CUNY 2021, KU Hackfest 2021, and Hackabull 2021 — and picked up a lesson from each.

A hackathon is an event where programmers and non-programmers build a project under a theme/problem statement in a limited time frame (minimum 24 hours).

CUNY 2021

My first hackathon of the year — I started solo, then found teammates from NY two days before it began. We built a website tracking COVID-19 vaccine info with patient reviews, planning to use Django + React. We never managed to connect the backend and frontend, and two teammates went inactive during hacking.

Lesson: choose teammates wisely, avoid hackathons during exam season, set up a shared schedule across time zones, and don't skip the workshops.

KU Hackfest 2021

Second hackathon — this time with college teammates I trusted. We built an Open Innovation project we were confident would place, but missed the submission deadline entirely.

Lesson: use a calendar for the event, and finish at least an hour before the submission window opens.

Hackabull 2021

Third hackathon, same teammates, and a new project since you can't resubmit an old one: Bookinder — a site for exchanging books for free, aimed at introverted readers stuck in lockdown. We finished early this time, though we skipped the backend due to time constraints.

We submitted around 1am on Devpost, and woke up to find we'd won "The Best First Time Hacker" — a solid confidence boost. You can check it out on Devpost or see the live site.

Swags and prizes

Every hackathon usually comes with a t-shirt, stickers, and (thanks to COVID) a mask — typically collected via a Typeform, and shipped a few months later due to organizer delays.