Out of the few international student circles at Waseda University, the Google Developer Groups on Campus’s (GDGoC) Waseda Chapter stood out this past May, when they collaboratively held their successful hackathon, The Bridge, alongside other GDGoC chapters at Tokyo University, Korea University, and Yonsei University. This weekend-long event challenged, pushed, and invited those of all skill levels in computer science and technology to come together and create something new to the open-source world. Participants had one requirement: they must use Google’s Gemini API in their project. With one rule, all eight teams created eight vastly different projects that contributed to the utilization of AI, from a Discord chatbot that manages group projects to an app designed for those with dementia to help them remember.
For those unfamiliar with what a hackathon is, most can infer from its name that it involves hacking and computer science. While not all hackathons necessarily focus on hacking, most focus on strengthening and pushing participants’ limits of their knowledge on computer science and coding. Once team projects are completed within days–typically two to three–teams will present their hard work to a panel of judges who will generously reward ideas deemed creative, unique, and contributive to the corresponding theme.
The Bridge especially highlighted the collaborative and hardworking aspects of hackathons, where students from multiple academic backgrounds–whether they were computer science majors, design fanatics, frantic coders, or even those completely unfamiliar with anything computer science (such as myself)–worked together to combine their strengths and created something truly unique to their team. Not only were the participants strongly dedicated, but also all members of the GDGoC chapters from Tokyo and Korea had proudly proven their dedication to the event, planning months in advance, all while across seas before the big weekend. Their commitment to creating a smooth event was vividly reflected, as members supervising the 48-hour event provided catering, consulting, and comfort to the hungry, hectic hackers.
As someone who knows only the basics of coding, I was pleasantly surprised to have received such a welcoming and encouraging invite to participate in The Bridge from the GDGoC chapter heads. Initially, I was nervous about not being able to contribute anything meaningful to my team’s project, seeing that I couldn’t code past an elementary level–let alone develop an app or a website. Knowing that I signed up without any real skill to contribute, I forced myself to take this as an opportunity to learn something completely new, grow from it, and make connections through it. Within six hours of the hackathon, I had learned the basics of UI/UX design and only progressed each hour therein. Never having seen myself pursuing any sort of digital design, opening up this unfamiliar path was invigorating and gave me confidence in an area I never even considered touching. The encouragement I received from GDGoC members and other participants as I nervously clicked my way through the weekend showed the true passion emerging from this club, as they don’t limit participants and collaboration based on students’ knowledge but instead eagerly invite those who strive to try and be open to new things, whether that’s coding, designing, working in a team, or even joining a school club for the first time.
While the focal point of hackathons are the technology behind them, the beauty in these sleepless nights of college kids’ lives emanates through their presentations, connections, and unforgettable–albeit sometimes traumatizing (from the stress and time constraints many face in the last grueling hours of hackathons)–skills they make from them. Hackathons challenge not only technical skills, but real-world ones, too, like public speaking, teamwork, and communication, all simultaneously under high levels of stress and low levels of sleep. And experiencing The Bridge, with students not only from Waseda and Tokyo University, but also internationally from Korea and Yonsei University, was just another weekend-long piece of evidence that student-led clubs such as GDGoC plan and continue to plan valuable opportunities to anyone interested in participating, even if they’re not initially sure how they could contribute.