💫A crazy 24-hour solo adventure that taught me courage, confidence, and how to take the first step into my dream world.💫
Have you ever done something that scared you so much…
but you did it anyway?
That was me when I joined Hackaura Virtual Hackathon 2025 —
my first hackathon ever, a 24-hour virtual challenge,
and I participated solo.
No teammates.
No prior experience.
Just excitement, fear, and a dream.
And honestly…
it was a once in a lifetime experience ✨
💙 Why I Chose a Mental Health Chatbot
Mental health matters to me.
Even if small, I wanted to create something that could listen,
something that could emotionally support people.
So I decided to build a basic Mental Health Buddy / Chatbot.
It wasn’t the best.
It wasn’t perfect.
It wasn’t anything new.
But I started.
And that is the most beautiful part of this story.
“I just wanted to start and try something new…
and I’m happy that I took my first step into building my dream world.”
👤 Going Solo: My Scariest Decision
Being a first-time participant meant:
✨I didn’t know where to start
✨I didn’t know how to plan a hackathon project
✨I wasn’t sure if I could complete it within 24 hours
✨I didn’t know how to present or submit it properly
But still, I told myself:
"Starting is more important than knowing everything."
I built the entire project using:
✨Google Colab for coding
✨Python for chatbot logic
✨Gradio for the interface
Every line of code was a new learning.
Every step felt like a small victory.
🕛 The Sleepless Grind
Since it was a 24-hour hackathon, it became a journey of:
✨ Sleepless night coding
✨ Early morning fixing errors
✨ Last-minute submission chaos
✨ Energy drinks, panic, and hope 😅
There were moments when time felt like the biggest enemy.
But I kept pushing until my final submission was done ✅
And that feeling… was unforgettable.
⚙️ GitHub Panic Mode 😭
This was my first time using GitHub.
And that made everything 10x more stressful.
I had no clue how to:
✨Publish code
✨Upload files
✨Push changes
✨Write README properly
I was literally googling
“How to upload to GitHub quickly”
while my hands were shaking because the submission time was almost OVER 😭💀
Yes… last-minute submission ✔️
But I DID IT ✅
🧠 Learning to Build and Believe
There were moments I genuinely believed:
“I won’t be able to finish this…”
But I kept going.
I kept trying.
And eventually… I completed my project and submitted it on time 😌
“In the end all turned out okay.
Everything that happens is for the best.
Every little thing is a learning experience in building my dream.”
🎯 The Results? Still Pending.
But I’m not worried.
Because I won something bigger:
✅ Confidence in myself
✅ Experience that made me stronger
✅ The courage to keep building
✅ A clear understanding of how hackathons work
✅ The belief that… I can do this
"I don’t care about the results
because I gained so much more than a certificate or prize."
🌱 My First Step Toward My Future
My chatbot may not change the world today…
But it changed me.
It reminded me that:
✨ You don’t need to be perfect to start
✨ Every journey begins with a single step
✨ Progress is more important than perfection
Hackaura gave me the spark I needed.
Now, I want to keep learning, keep creating, keep improving…
and one day — build wonders 💫
🎉 Final Thoughts
Hackaura wasn’t just a hackathon.
It was my beginning.
My leap into the world I want to build.
A crazy experience that gave me more than sleep ever could 😌
To anyone reading this:
"If you're nervous about starting something…
Start anyway.
You’ll thank yourself later."
✨ Here’s to more hackathons
✨ more ideas
✨ more sleepless nights
✨ and more versions of me that don’t give up 🚀
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