My First Hackathon

The hackathon. The mystical, magical place that people can't stop talking and smiling about. The elysium from which the magnificent Messenger and Tinder came from. For the longest time, I did think of hackathons as a enigma--a place that Mark Zuckerberg and Bill Gates, the tech titans of Silicon Valley, went to have fun. But I was wrong. About a week before Hacking Generation Y, a friend approached me, asking me to join a team with a variety of skills. I accepted the invitation, and together, my group brainstormed for possible ideas, eventually stumbling on a locational and traffic based reminder app. Walking into the experience, I was apprehensive as well as unsure of what value the event would have for me. The second I walked into the Nest headquarters, I had the largest paradigm shift of my life--the place was awesome! The amount of FREE food, FREE swag, and that was just the surface (hint: everything else also involved the word FREE)! Jokes aside, I found that the hacker community is the most passionate group of kids in the world--the amount of ideas, people, and resources was overwhelming! The hackathon gave me a unique opportunity to finish the project in one weekend--while most people tend to take their time with projects (as they are not locked inside a building for 36 hours), the hackathon forced us to work as fast as we could to finish the project and forced us to learn a lot of new languages and material to get our project to work. I had to learn node.JS and JQuery. Due to using a database that updates in real time (Couchbase), I had to use node.JS to work my way around the security protocols protecting the database (Couchbase is currently working on a web interface). Once the link to the database had been established, I used JQuery to get the data and process it to return to the user. This was a different experience, as I usually use PHP as my server side language. Unfortunately, Couchbase was only compatible with Javascript, hence the usage of JQuery. The amount of support and knowledge in the air made it hard to sleep! At the end of the 36 hours, my team gave a pitch of our product to our judges, and at the awards ceremony, our hard work was rewarded--we were prize winners! We'd won $1,000! As I stepped out of the building, 36 hours flashed before my eyes. Friends, food, swag, knowledge, and riches--I saw it all. I went to my first hackathon not truly understanding or believing its purpose, and emerging from the other side a wiser (and richer) man. I realize now that this is not where titans go, but where titans are born. 

The Holiday Season in a Galaxy Far, Far Away

Ahhhh the holiday season--the time for lights, food, family, and giving, and for me, cleaning out my room after a semester of hard work and extracurricular projects. Now, cleaning my room is a bi-annual task that takes months and months of training, strategizing, and NUMEROUS trash bags. It is a battle that takes the eons (or maybe just 3 days) to win. Unlike most monotonous and drab clean up sessions, this one was different--I had stumbled upon a hidden gem in my room--legos. Just seeing the familiar sea of plastic made me reminisce about "the good old days". I imagined being picked up and thrown into a holiday galaxy far, far away (also known as my childhood)...

When I was 7, holidays at the Pandya household were a lot different--there would be lights outside the house, inside the house, and as far as the eye could see. Why, the lights were so bright (or so it seemed) it felt like it was constantly daytime! My sister would put up a Christmas tree every year and decorate it with all of our old school made ornaments. And of course this holiday was made possible and a bit more joyful (well maybe more than a bit) due to break starting and the stresses of schoolwork ending. I vividly remember the day break would start--the second I reached home, I would anxiously tear open my lego boxes, and my room was officially "Lego 24/7". My room was like a minefield (a minefield of legos, that is)--there would be my imagination immortalized in legos as far as the eye could see--dragons, quinta-engine spaceships, all terrain vehicles, and much much more.

Opening this box of legos and seeing the seas of color after all this time put a smile on my face and made me remember all the fun that I'd had as a little kid. The plethora of pieces threw me back to the constant sunlight and the dragons and minefields in my room--and though I enjoy what my holiday break has become, it was nice to be 7 again.

El Club de Fútbol de Kevin Moran

It was the beginning of summer, and homecoming was in full steam--and as a matter of fact, so was the FIFA World Cup! In all honesty, I had no clue what the World Cup was before summer, but given that my boss spent our lunch breaks streaming the game on his computer in 1080p (instead of sitting at his desk and working like usual), I decided that this had to be something big. So I got in on the frenzy as well--and boy was it exhilarating--this wasn't like normally watching a sport on TV...there was something different about this--a certain excitement that just kept jumping out at every moment. Then one afternoon after a skit practice, me and a good friend of mine were talking about the excitement of soccer, when he happened to mention that a group of Lynbrook kids played soccer at Kevin Moran Park. I was ecstatic! Now, I hadn't played soccer since I was 5 and continuously kicked the ball at the opposing teams' faces, but I was sure that I could learn! When we'd first arrived, the only thing that could be seen was chaos--there were 10-15 people per team, and no distinction between them--if someone scored on their own goal, they would just laugh it off and keep playing. That was what I saw as the beauty of the game--everyone played in harmony; we played for fun; and we played for the best summer ever. We all laughed together and had the time of our lives. On the first day that I'd been there, I knew nobody, but through all the laughter, fun, and sweat of summer, walking home on the day of the last game I realized I was walking away with 30 new friends and memories that I'll cherish forever.

The Beginning in an End

6 weeks of fun, cuisines, friends, and programming--what can I say, this was definitely a defining moment of my high school career. Be it having the greatest ping-pong tournaments known to history to programming in Python and Java all day long, I had a blast. I met and connected with so many different people and learned so many different things about Silicon Valley start ups--for example: I learned about looking ahead and adapting a business to where the market will be in 10 year; I learned about different kinds of businesses and their similarities and differences; I learned about different ways of protecting your product; but most importantly, I learned about passion for what you're doing. If you believe in what you're working towards and if you believe in yourself that what you're doing is right, you're unstoppable. DataTorrent's employees are much like you and I--I've seen their fun side as well as their hardworking and studious side. Once, when the boss had left, one of the programmers went to the ping pong room and brought the table out to have a tournament in front of everybody! Unfortunately, he was caught in the act by the boss (who had forgotten some of his papers), and everybody got a good laugh out of it. For the longest time, I've been wanting to create real code--real, in the sense that real programmers in the field would create, and that I did. Looking back on my time at DataTorrent, I now realize that this is what has solidified my passion for CS. Though the internship is now over, it has opened a new door for me--I have found a beginning in the end.

HC Script with a Side of Salsa

I remember my freshman homecoming...it was a mix of fear, excitement, and pure adrenaline--and it turned out to be one of the best parts of freshman year! Aside from the actual performance, one of the highlights of homecoming was being in charge of the script. Meeting so many different people with awesome ideas, writing skills, and acting skills was truly amazing. And guess what!? I get to do it again this year (but with a year of experience in my pocket)! The creativity involved in writing the script has always been a favorite of mine--I love thinking of creative ideas and making figments of my imagination a reality. Much like a dictionary in python, a value (in this case, memory) is not directly accessed...there is a key that triggers the value to be brought up. For me, it was my mother's salsa--no matter how frustrated the team was, or how much fun we were having, the one thing that would always make us stop what we were doing and run to the kitchen was salsa. I will always remember the conversations that we'd had around the bowl; Harry Potter, The Legend of Korra, you name it--we've talked about it. For some reason, the salsa was the thing that brought us all together and actually "gave" us the best ideas for the script! For many years to come, I know that I will always remember my mom's salsa and the sweet, delicious, and savory memories that it brings.

Week 3 & 4 Shenanigans

What can I say!? Life's been going great, and I feel like I am soaking in knowledge (programming AND ping-pong) by the minute! One of my personal favorite highlights this week was our company barbecue--we went to an employee's house for an afternoon of delicious roasted delights and plenty of chips and soda--we even had hummus! Aside from the food, they had a pool and two dogs! Everyone came dressed for the occasion and took a few leaps from the diving board. I even overcame my fear of dogs--I spent a good portion of the afternoon feeding the dogs chips! Not only was this outing fun, but also very eye opening. As the fun and food started winding down, all the company's employees sat in a circle for our weekly company meetings. Instead of the usual demonstrations, we talked about what the company was up to and what our future looked like. I learned a lot about company life and what opportunities and risks to take as the CEO gave a company update about what deals and partnerships we were working on at the time. After this, we all drove back to the office while listening to musical melodies and chatting about school life and ideal summer vacations. But the fun wasn't over yet! After returning to the office, some of the other employees invited me to play a game of ping-pong with them--a doubles game! Instead of the usual games that I tended to play, this game followed the strict rules of the ping-pong (the employees played recreationally). It was a lot of fun, and I finally figured out how to smash the ball and get it over the net! After a week (or two) of hard work, this was the perfect Friday to end it with. I honestly can't believe that 4 weeks are already done--this wonderful experience is going by so quickly! I look forward to finishing my work and to the rest of my time at DataTorrent--not to mention another game of ping-pong!

My First Scoutmaster Minute

In all my time as a Boy Scout, a Scoutmaster Minute (SM) has been something the wise scoutmasters would present. Now, a SM is a minute for the scoutmaster to expound an experience in their life that has shaped their skills and personality for the better--a SM is words of wisdom from years of experience. So when I was asked to present the SM for an upcoming meeting, I was shocked (I was neither a scoutmaster OR adult) yet immensely excited. Ever since I had joined my troop, I had always wondered what it would be like to  stand in front of my friends and younger scouts and share my experiences. Now, I had gotten an opportunity to do this as Senior Patrol Leader (SPL), but that had a different feeling to it--while a SPL organizes and informs the troop, as many had done before me, a SM is a precious thing that very few are given the right to say, and I was honored to present it.

The message: Initiative is everything. Nothing in life will be brought to you on a golden platter--the only thing that you can be certain the future holds for you is something that you have taken the initiative to get. In my minute, I talked about taking the initiative to talk to people, and how these impressions and friendships you make will be your network. I said that the network that you make will not only be the group of friends you have, but will also be the group of people who will be your colleagues and recommend you for jobs. You are only as strong as your network, as they elevate you and give you a platform to start from (as opposed to ground 0). Networks are everything--and the root--initiative.