Why should I participate in a high-school hackathon?
Tags: hackathon
Published: 2021-01-04 04:59:41

Well, hackathons provide a plethora of opportunities to grow and progress regardless of background or experience. From workshops to competitions, hackathons allows all programmers from beginners to more experienced to learn, meet new people, win awards, and gain recognition, all while earning a load of free swag and tech.

**1. Learning!** Hackathons offer several mentors, speaker events, and workshops that teach introductory to advanced concepts. Our hackathon, ThetaHacks, has [17 volunteers](http://thetahacks.tech/schedule) spanning from speakers, workshop leads, and mentors that teach everything from Augmented Reality by the CEO of EchoAR, to basic Web Development. So even if you’re a beginner, you can learn something and maybe apply it to submit a project.

**2. Meeting new people!** Hackathons also provide a unique opportunity for programmers to talk to others who share similar interests. Virtual hackathons provide their own set of benefits since they are online, which means that you can work with and talk to any other participant across the world! Heck, be sure to check out our [Discord](http://thetahacks.tech/discord) with over 270 people that talk about everything from the the latest USACO contest to heated debates over Linux vs Mac.

**3. Money, swag, and prizes!** Hackathons have large budgets and sponsors to give money to winners in different categories, as well as free swag for all attendees! This includes free credits and swag for every attendee that participates, and various [prizes](https://thetahacks.devpost.com/) for winning teams. Be sure to check out our long list of [free swag](http://thetahacks.tech/index.html#events) that every attendee receives, along with prizes for winning teams. If you’re new to coding, you can attend our events to learn something new, and submit them to our beginner hack prize. Even if you don’t win, you can still get all of our swag!

**4. Create something awesome!** You can make something innovative which can help the world by participating in a hackathon! These projects can even be built upon in the future with new people you meet, or can even be used on your resumé or application!

**5. Recognition!** Winning a hackathon is a great achievement anyone can flex to their friends and even on applications, and can give you and your project more recognition and credibility. Even if you don’t win, it’s a huge learning experience and great place to meet people, and potentially find a new team member to work with in the future (that’s how I met some of my friends in the past)!. Colleges especially love students who attend hackathons to learn new things.

With that being said, **what is ThetaHacks**?
ThetaHacks is a virtual high-school hackathon on January 15–18, 2021. Anyone of any skill level is free to submit a project that benefits the world around us. Our event is free, with tons of epic swag, events, and more. For more information, please visit [thetahacks.tech/info](thetahacks.tech/info).
If you’re interested in participating in our hackathon, sign up on our [website](http://thetahacks.tech/) and [Devpost](http://thetahacks.devpost.com/) for more info, or send us an email at hello@thetahacks.tech!
Other Links: [https://thetahacks.tech/links/](https://thetahacks.tech/links/)

ThetaHacks,
Neel Gajare and Anshul Gupta