Hacking for a common good

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of participating in my first hackathon. Being a computer engineer I understand a hackathon as a gathering of developers and companies with ideas  usually programming for a weekend to create something. But little did I know that the work "hack" has a different conitation to most people out of the computer world. Hacking has been given a bad name by the media and because of it, developers are pegged as doing mischievous things for their own benefit and not the good of a company or society.

Well against popular belief of what hackers and developers do at hackathons, I went to a great hackathon called Random Hacks Of Kindness or RHOK (rock). It had to be one of favorite moments in San Francisco so far. Why? Because RHOK builds things for the good of society and not for the good of a company or fun.  There were many different project proposals at the event but only about 5 were actually worked on. This just goes to show there is a lot of people out there that need help developing so that they can better help their organizations. There were people from Google, Apple, non profits, Sprint, Yahoo, past Peace Corps volunteers, and many others. 

I learned that this is the type of community I want to be apart of. A community that is geeky and yet is still doing something for the common good. I don't have medical, educational, or political skills to offer which has made my journey a little bit more difficult than the people in my volunteer program right now, but finding a community like RHOK has helped with realizing my need in this world.

Programming with the mind that you are helping someone out that truly makes a person feel like they have purpose. Other organizations like RHOK are around, they just take a little time to find. If you are a developer, designer, thinker, or have any skills to offer I highly encourage you to attend a hackathon like this. you not only get to help out those in need, but you also meet great people like you that want to make a difference in the world with a few keystrokes. Companies also fund these events so that server space, special software, and consolation doesn't become overhead for the project.

If you are a developer, or just interested in computers, I highly encourage you to attend a hackathon by RHOK. One thing I wish they would have taught me in engineering school is how important it is to have a moral backbone and the need to help is greater than the need to make a buck. I think that can be forgotten at times in our busy lives and events like these can really help to keep you focused on what's important in the world.