“A hackathon is where everything is possible in just 24 hours,” Huang explains, and she should know. Huang attended HackPSU, her first hackathon, in 2014, and it opened a new door for her. She has since attended several hackathons independently or with other organizers of HackPSU across the country, including Hackcon, Mhacks IV, Pennapps and VT Hacks.
HackPSU: What’s in it for students
“HackPSU offers workshops to students of all levels,” Huang said. “Even if you’ve never seen a single line of code in your life, we have something for you.”
Students will be able to work on any kinds of projects including applications, hardware, websites and many more. With no projects allowed to start before the hack, it is a fair game for everyone.
“I had some of my best memories in college through hackathons,” Huang said. “You are able to meet with a lot of inspiring people and innovative companies in the fields. It’s a great opportunity for you to expand your network.”
Attending hackathons has shaped Huang’s future career goals in the field of technology. She has thought about being a professional hackathon organizer after graduation that would allow her to tour around major universities across the United States, and be a part of the inspiration for generations of college students.
New opportunities through hackathons
One thing Huang has noticed from her own experience is the lack of female hackers and hackers from fields other than computer science in the hackathons she’s been to. And that’s what motivates her in the first place — wanting to break the stereotypes many people have about and in the tech industry.
“People look at me and they might think, you are a psychology major, what are you doing here. But in reality, technology is a field that is deeply connected with all industries,” she said. “Say you are a biology major, and you want to build an app to educate people about different parts of our body. That’s where comes the importance of knowing how to code.