DEV Community

Cover image for I Left My First Hackathon at 8 PM — And it Was a Massive Success!

I Left My First Hackathon at 8 PM — And it Was a Massive Success!

Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour on February 22, 2026

Most hackathon stories start with "We stayed up for 36 hours and drank 10 Red Bulls." Mine is different. Yesterday was Day 1 of my first-ever hack...
Collapse
 
thisisryanswift profile image
Ryan Swift

Thanks for coming out to the event :) Quinn's a rock star glad you were able to meet him!

Collapse
 
maame-codes profile image
Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour

Def is! Very helpful

Collapse
 
bhavin-allinonetools profile image
Bhavin Sheth

Honestly this is so true. My first hackathon was the same — I didn’t finish anything, but the conversations helped me more than the code. I met people, learned how others think, and that gave me confidence. Hackathons are less about winning and more about showing up and being part of the community.

Collapse
 
maame-codes profile image
Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour

Exactly Bhavin! Meeting like minded people there is so interesting. And also realising how different people solve problems and the tools they use as well. I really learnt a lot

Collapse
 
benjamin_nguyen_8ca6ff360 profile image
Benjamin Nguyen

Nice! I love hackathon because you never who you will meet. I like to do Hackathon once a year. It is really fun to create a prototype with your team. You need to rest after the high stress level a few days later. It is great place to meet recruiter from a local tech meetup group also.

Collapse
 
maame-codes profile image
Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour

I agree with you on doing it once a year,😂😂 it’s not for the weak, even though I left at 8pm that screen time alone made my eyes twitch a bit. But it’s an amazing experience overall honestly

Collapse
 
benjamin_nguyen_8ca6ff360 profile image
Benjamin Nguyen

I know the feeling — I met someone people who were practically buzzing from coffee during the hackathon back in fall of 2025.

Collapse
 
theycallmeswift profile image
Swift

Swift the CEO and Co-Founder of MLH here. 👋 I can't tell you how happy this post made me!

Our dream when we started talking about MLH+DEV was that we could help create a virtuous cycle of hackers like you talking about the life changing magic that's happening in both communities every day and connect the dots between online and offline worlds. This is the first time I'm seeing that dream become a reality.

Welcome to the MLH community and thank you for sharing your story!

Collapse
 
maame-codes profile image
Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour

You guys joining forces is honestly the best thing ever , especially for people like me who are trying to be present in events like this and writing about them to encourage others to also participate. It’s already working and we love it here! :)

Collapse
 
dylan_k_56c4ff411af7fe511 profile image
Dylan K

Glad you enjoyed our event Maame!

Collapse
 
maame-codes profile image
Maame Afua A. P. Fordjour

You guys did a great job💯