How to Hack your First Hackathon
As you all should know by now, McWiCS is organizing a hybrid hackathon on the weekend of February 4-5, 2023 at Mila – Quebec AI Institute (yes, you read that right!!!). Mila is one of the leading research hubs for advancing Artificial Intelligence technologies. In other words: super cool place. If you haven’t signed up yet, what are you waiting for? Here is the form to apply.
“But I’m busy that weekend.” “I don’t know anyone who’s participating.” “I am inexperienced and will therefore have no idea what the hell I’m doing.” Ah, yes. Excuses, excuses.
Below, I lay out the most common fears that participants (especially first-time hackers) have surrounding hackathons and how best to address them.
1. “I am still a beginner coder/don’t even know how to code/have never been to a hackathon before.”
With hackathons - as with everything in life - there has to be a scary first time. If I can't convince you, might Leo?
Congratulations! You fit the requirements to participate. While it may seem counterintuitive, inexperienced coders are the target demographic for hackathons. If you’re just starting out your degree or computer science journey, you’ve come to the right place. A cool thing about hackathons is that anyone who partakes in them will be able to walk away having learnt something. And if you think about it, the less you already know the more you will be able to learn! Small coding workshops as well as enthusiastic mentors will be present at the event to assist you in getting started. Besides, if I may fill you in on a little secret, you’d be surprised how many hackathon projects have very little code in them. It is simply inconceivable to create the next PayPal or Facebook in the span of 24 hours. So, how do hackathon projects seem so professional and ingenious if very little coding goes into producing them? The answer is a whole bunch of APIs, libraries, frameworks, open-source code, among others. The very best hackers find prewritten chunks of code that they can reuse and implement them into their projects to save time rather than code all these up from scratch. This is not cheating! It is the very thing that has kept hackathons alive and well for years. Just make sure to give credit where credit it due.
2. “None of my friends or people I know are participating.”
That’s completely okay! It may seem intimidating going to an event not knowing anyone and having to team up with strangers to ideate and create a huge project in just 24 hours. But don’t forget that McWiCS will help in handling team formation and matching you with other solo hackers. That said, don’t be afraid of reaching out to people and asking them if they’d like to team up. You’d be surprised how many of them are in the exact same position as you and are also anxious about going. In addition, hackathons are much more than a competition: hackathons are a social event (I know; who knew programmers were social beings?!). They exist for people with a shared love of tech to get to know one another, form connections, and network. They are a great way to play around with code, meet interesting people, and make new friends. If you think about it, it’s pretty cool to watch friendships blossom out of collective, panic-ridden experiences: just like hackathons. In fact, there’s a whole science behind how oxytocin - a social bonding hormone - is released during times of stress and panic. So even if you lose the hackathon, you’re almost guaranteed to win a friend!
3. “I’m not creative enough/have no new idea for a project.”
Have you tried looking here for inspiration from the projects created by last year’s Hack McWiCS participants? What about here? You could also look at other hackathons’ Devpost pages (HackTheNorth, McHacks…) for even more inspiration and ideas. Brainstorming with your team prior to the hackathon is also a great way to gain a head start. Moreover, at the end of the day, creativity is a team effort. Having multiple people from diverse backgrounds, fields of study, and coding abilities on your team is a sure-fire way to come up with a “creative” idea. I would also suggest not getting so caught up in finding that one unique “WOW” idea for a project because chances are that the big app idea you came up with in the shower already exists. Instead, you must realize that the projects that end up winning hackathons are really simple and trivial and will make you think “How come I didn’t think of that?!”. What sets them apart is their usefulness, functionality, and polished execution.
4. “What if I don’t finish my hack/don’t want to present my project?”
Not finishing a hackathon project is much more common than you think. Just focus on getting an MVP (minimum viable product) to showcase to the hackathon organizers as they stop by to hear your pitch. It is also completely fine if you do not even end up with a working project due to some major bugs in your code or any other hurdles. Everyone will still be interested in hearing about your idea, the challenges you faced, what you learned, what you tried…etc. There is no reason to be intimidated by the presentation portion: no one is expecting you to be an expert.
In conclusion, while attending your first hackathon can be daunting and anxiety-inducing, rest assured that feeling this way is by design and that countless others have been in your shoes. In addition to all the “hacks” above - and this is not some cliché advice - make sure to make having fun and learning your top priorities. The unpleasant reality is that most hackers (beginner or not) do not win. It sucks to think about it, but you are inevitably (at least from a statistical perspective) doomed to lose before you even begin. This is not meant to crush spirits, but what I am trying to convey is that if you make winning your motivator, you are, ironically, setting yourself up for failure. If, however, you make learning your motivator, you will not walk away disappointed. You really will gain more practical skills in one hackathon than in a semester’s worth of lectures. Lastly, pause for a moment and reflect on how ridiculous it is to be afraid of hackathons. Out of all the terrifying things in this world: spiders, bears, the possibility that we humans may be alone (or NOT!) in the universe, the first people to walk out of the exam room…etc., you chose to be afraid of social coding events filled with free food and fun activities? *Eye roll*
So, if you were hesitant about signing up for Hack McWiCS or any other hackathon, remember that you have nothing to lose and everything to gain! Best of luck to all our hackers!
TL; DR: APPLY NOW TO HACK McWiCS!
