https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10 For our 10th birthday, we're inviting members of our community to share their hacker stories. Post a picture and/or story to any of the sections, and check back throughout the month as we add more prompts. en-us 2023-06-30 16:13:12 UTC 2026-01-03 05:25:34 UTC hello@padlet.com https://padlet-uploads.storage.googleapis.com/2083203931/4675eea5069d362efed0f63d98d5d7f7/_fin_hardware_hippo_fin_white.png aaron_mlh https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2636046007 In September 2016, I attended an open day at the University of Nottingham, where I met Gregor (who is still an MLH Coach) because he was representing HackSoc. After chatting, he invited me to HackNotts 2016. A few months later and after jumping through some hoops (b/c I was only 17) I attended my first Hackathon, fell in love with this community, and almost 7 years later I'm a software engineer here at MLH.]]> 2023-06-30 16:21:17 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2636046007 aaron_mlh https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2640573018 In February 2020, I was coaching CovHack2020, and had some friends that were planning to attend. We got a grant from our University to cover part of the cost of hiring a minibus to Coventry, and after only a couple of weeks we doubled our target and ended up bringing 25 people.]]> 2023-07-07 16:41:58 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2640573018 bern422 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2640849721 Hackers from Florida State University and University of Florida hopped on a bus and drove 15 hours across to country to get to MHacks Fall 2015 in Ann Arbor, MI. It was the first time we traveled together as a state, but not the last! The beginning of a vibrant hacker collective in Florida.]]> 2023-07-08 13:55:35 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2640849721 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2641853866 I think, somehow, my first hackathon was the MHacks that was held in the football stadium at the university of Michigan. It was an absolutely wild scale for the time and one of the first really big hackathons that people came from afar to participate in. I road tripped from Rochester with three friends in the car, somehow getting a flat tire crossing Ohio in both directions, but we all had such a good time that we knew we had to keep competing in hackathons. It ended up being my first of 4 (?) MHacks and of many many hackathons.]]> 2023-07-10 13:38:24 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2641853866 aaron_mlh https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2641890886 My hackathon story truly started with Gregor inviting me to HackNotts 2016 when I was still in sixth form, which ultimately served as my "gateway" to a life and career that's been shaped by this community. 

At HackNotts 2016, I met Joe. He was at the event because he was representing GitHub as a sponsor, but he also founded HackNotts several years prior, and I distinctly remember him going out of his way to make sure everyone had an amazing time and proceeded to be one of the core people that made the experience so special to me. A couple of years later, I joined the GitHub Campus Expert programme as a result of his encouragement which opened up so many more doors for me.

And then, in February 2019, during my first training event as an MLH Coach, I met Robbie, who has gone on to not just be one of my closest friends but has been my "partner in crime" through many of the epic hackathon related projects I've had the privilege of working on.]]> 2023-07-10 14:42:45 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2641890886 willrussell1 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2642684274 There's nothing quite like presenting your barely functioning app on an IMAX screen to 300 people! This was one of those experiences I won't forget! It was really motivating to come away with best newcomer prize too!]]> 2023-07-11 11:46:07 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2642684274 willrussell1 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2642685647 After dragging a suitcase and IKEA bag of kit all the way to Edinburgh, we made a very unique experience with lights, sound effects and on screen overlays! One of those experiences that I won't forget!]]> 2023-07-11 11:49:29 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2642685647 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643764975 Pablo was the person who organized the first hack I attended, the one who invited me to the biggest hackathon in Mexico, the one who started the community I've been most involved in, he has been a great mentor and an amazing friend, I can totally say that meeting him changed my life. Thank you, Pablo!]]> 2023-07-12 20:41:37 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643764975 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643767428 We were new in college, first semester, my friends and I were eager to do a thousand projects. Suddenly I saw some ads, PoliHacks! The university hackathon, we registered and decided to participate without really knowing what the event was about. It's worth mentioning that I was supposed to be the one who knew the most programming of all, and I could barely make a vanilla HTML. So we ventured into a weekend of trying to put together a functional project with the little we knew about programming and the little we knew about hardware, after not sleeping and breaking our heads trying to make a working prototype, which we did not achieve, we ended up spending one of the weekends that I remember fondly in my college life. Simply amazing, after that I fell in love with hackathons.]]> 2023-07-12 20:51:04 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643767428 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643768308 I'm not in the photo, I took it. They are hackers, friends, sponsors and directors dancing "batucada" very Mexico style on the main stage of TigreHacks!]]> 2023-07-12 20:54:18 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2643768308 https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2651663464 2023-07-26 18:36:53 UTC https://padlet.com/mlhacks/10/wish/2651663464