User Story: How Chanakya Expands His Skill Set With Hackathons

Meet Chanakya, also known as @Chanakya_Akhil. Having joined Devpost less than a year ago, he has already participated in five hackathons and secured prizes in two of them! That’s impressive progress for such a short period of time. Here’s how he uses hackathons as a learning tool.

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What Motivates You to Participate?

Hackathons have this unique ability that makes me want to learn a skill or two to compete in it. Although the cash prize is a factor, improving skills is the major motivator for me in a hackathon because if you don’t win you can at least leave with a few more skills than yesterday.

What Has Been Your Favorite Hackathon Experience?

Climate Change Makers Challenge was a hackathon dear to me as it was my first hackathon where I was given the opportunity to give a live pitch of my project. Although I stumbled and stuttered with anxiety it improved my public pitching skills and also I got to network with various people from around the world.

What Advice Would You Give to New Hackathon Participants?

One piece of advice I’d like to give to new participants is don’t rush in looking at the prize money and then make subpar submissions in order to win—choose hackathons that you want to do for yourself. Another tip: Check your emails from Cassie regularly, you never know you might miss some good hackathons.

"Choose hackathons that you want to do for yourself," said Chanakya Akhil Vijay Kumar Dowluru.

What Skills Have You Learned From Hackathons?

The most valuable skill I learned by participating in hackathons is time management and scheduling. I think time management is the most important skill ever as it defines the success of any project. Another lesson I learned is unless you work hard and improve yourself, success won’t come easily.

Thanks for being a great member of our community, Chanakya! We hope to see you continue to grow and challenge your skills in many more hackathons.

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