“When people think about computer science, they imagine people with pocket protectors and thick glasses who code all night,” current CEO and president of Yahoo, Marissa Mayer said.

The stereotype of the reclusive and awkward computer science enthusiast is a generalization of a huge segment of our society that we must reevaluate. Computer science, particularly computer programming, is not limited to only experienced technical professionals; a diverse array of people enjoy and benefit from this medium of creative expression.

At MVHS, individual coding enthusiasts worked with officers of Technovation, a club that allows girls to gain exposure to technology industries.  Together, they organized MV Hacks, the first ever hackathon at MVHS.  By appealing to students of various grade levels and programming abilities, MV Hacks promoted inclusivity and drew participants from many segments of the MVHS community.  For many including the founder and main organizer of MV Hacks, senior Ruta Joshi, the purpose of the event was to learn new skills and make exciting projects.

Joshi became an even better programmer through the process of organizing MV Hacks.  By attending other Hackathons and practicing coding with friends, Joshi learned and experimented with multiple programming languages. To encourage an atmosphere that was hospitable to newcomers and new ideas, Joshi created opportunities for people of various interests to be involved.

“We wanted to make sure that anyone who came would be comfortable working and they wouldn’t feel like they had to be an expert coder,” Joshi said.

Joshi and other organizers focused on providing resources for people from different backgrounds. This included providing classes throughout the school the day before the hackathon. Volunteers taught the basics of Javascript and C++ in classrooms around the school, thus preparing students to be active participants in the MV Hacks competitions.

In addition, winners of the hackathon were not chosen based on the complexity or sophistication of their programs. Instead, programs were judged on their potential impact on our community and the creativity of ideas expressed.  MV Hack’s method of determining winners shifted the focus of the competition from raw technical ability to comprehensive ingenuity and originality.

Senior Archana Simha believes that one of the best aspects of the Hackathon was the new tools that programmers learned to use. As an officer in MV Technovation club, Simha helped organize the hackathon and found sponsors for the event. CodeEnvy was one of the sponsors that donated monetary prizes for the coders. Tyler Jewell, CEO of CodeEnvy, gave a speech at the event and introduced their online platform through which programmers can write, compile, and run their code.  In addition to CodeEnvy, programmers at MV Hacks were also encouraged to try MIT AppInventor and JApplets. By using these tools, new coders were able to begin quickly; they did not have to download extensive software platforms, in order to start. This exposure to new tools and platforms streamlined the programming process for novices and experts alike.

“Computer Science is the one field where everything is changing continuously. If you don’t know how to keep learning as you work, then you can’t progress,” Joshi said.

Every single person who goes to a hackathon or is working at Google or Facebook, is learning on the job.  The only requisite of being a successful programmer is a penchant for learning, creating, and innovating.