"We're allowed to use AI right?"
I sent that message in the MHacks 25 Discord server the day before the Hackathon, clueless about competition rules, norms, and the overall process. Clearly, I had no idea what to expect. I especially didn't expect that, precisely 24 hours later, I'd be downing RedBulls to power me through the night.
Although I started the competition cluless, I had the fortune to be on a great team. Sam Tao, Bill Hong, and Caden Bowman were all extremely easy to collaborate with and learn from. Even better, our project was one I was deeply interested in. So, I decided to pull an all-nighter. Building clAI (our project) with my teammates throughout the night was just too much fun.
Despite previous experience building websites, I never built any like our Hackathon project, as most of my projects were in plain HTML/CSS/JS. Learning React, Electron.js, Tailwind, etc. on the fly was not only loads of fun, but incredibly rewarding. Furthermore, what I learned during the Hackathon led to a new and unexpected interest in software systems engineering.
From the time-crunch of the Hackathon and the teamwork involved, I was able to pick up on so many new skills. I also deepened my passion for software and technology, and am even more excited for future projects and Hackathons.
From Left to Right: Caden Bowman, Sam Tao, Bill Hong, Dylan Li (me)