Welcome to Rohan’s Newsletter by me, Rohan Jagtap. Hey all! I am a 16-year-old technology enthusiast studying artificial intelligence and blockchain at The Knowledge Society (TKS).
This year I had the amazing opportunity to join The Knowledge Society, a human accelerator program for high school students to maximize their potential with early access to resources to learn about the leading technologies.
This month, I participated in an Artificial Intelligence Hackathon. With a team, we were tasked to identify a problem and develop a pitch to solve that problem with a slide deck, a video pitch, and any other materials which would help our team win the hackathon. The following are lessons that I would tell myself if I could travel back in time before the hackathon started:
PICK AN IDEA EARLY:
Everyone is given the same amount of time. The less time you spend figuring out an idea, the more time you can spend executing that idea. Make sure to pick an initial idea and get as far as you can. If your team decides to change the idea, you will definitely be able to use your work from to original idea towards your new idea.
DO NOT BE AFRAID TO MAKE MISTAKES:
Especially in front of your team, do not be afraid to be wrong — in fact, make those mistakes. Not only will you learn, but you will also get closer to your teammates as you will show your authenticity. This will develop deeper and stronger bonds..who knows you could even start a project or company with them in the future!
MAKE THE MOST OF YOUR RESOURCES:
Instead of just focusing on those homework assignments, you should have managed your time better so that you could tune into the live sessions and immerse yourself in machine learning. Perhaps by attending those live sessions, you would have thought of another idea that could have improved your group’s existing submission.
DO NOT BE INTIMIDATED, DO WHAT YOU CAN AND DO IT WELL:
Instead of getting intimidated by the other hundreds of TKS students who would have spent a lot more time on their area of expertise, try to learn as much as possible. While it would be amazing if you advanced to the next round, the point of a hackathon is to develop and improve your skills with new people. Instead of focusing on the results focus on your area of expertise, then use the available resources to gain a deeper understanding! (Do what you can and do it well!)
Looking back on this experience, I certainly learned quite a lot. Nevertheless, I really enjoyed the late-night meetings and the long hours of brainstorming with my team. This was genuinely a great use of my time and I now have lessons to apply to my future hackathons!
Have any questions or would like to connect further? You can reach me at my LinkedIn. Cheers!
In the meantime, tell your friends!