Introduction
A few months ago I was just another fresher walking into NIAT Jaipur with a laptop, some vague ideas about coding, and absolutely no clue what was coming.
Today I have competed in two national-level events, qualified a hackathon round, and somehow still find time for hostel chaos. Here is the honest version of how that happened.
SIH: Signing Up Before I Was Ready
When our batch was told about the Smart India Hackathon (SIH), I signed up mostly out of curiosity. Cyber security was not even my main domain at that point.
But that is the thing about hackathons — they do not wait for you to be ready. You jump in and work it out on the way.
Our team spent nights going back and forth on the problem statement, arguing about approaches, rewriting logic at 2 a.m. It was frustrating and exciting at the same time, usually within the same hour. And when we found out we had qualified the college-level round, that feeling genuinely hit different.
Don't wait until you feel ready. Sign up first, panic second, build third. That's the real order.
NLPE: Building Something That Solves a Real Problem
The National Level Project Exhibition (NLPE) was a completely different kind of challenge.
Here we had to build an Expert Connect Platform — essentially a bridge between professionals and learners. The idea sounds simple. Executing it taught me more about product thinking, teamwork and communication than any lecture has.
Presenting to evaluators, answering hard questions on the spot, defending design choices — it stretched me in ways I had not anticipated. Beyond the technical side, I came out with a much better sense of how to work with people under pressure.
Building for real users forces you to think differently. It's not just about code that runs — it's about solutions that matter.
The Stuff Between the Projects
Honestly? Hostel life and college trips deserve their own article.
The friendships you build at 1 a.m. over Maggi and debugging sessions are the kind that stick. And some of my best ideas came out of random conversations with batchmates, not from sitting alone trying to be productive.
NIAT gives you the structure and the opportunities. The energy comes from your people and the culture on campus. Both matter, equally.
Where I Am Headed
Frontend development, Python, a bit of marketing and team management thrown in — I am still working out what to go deep on.
But I have stopped worrying about having it figured out. Every project, every event, every late-night grind is slowly showing me the direction, which is apparently how this works.
Conclusion
If you are a fresher reading this: just start.
Do not overthink the first event, the first project, or the first time you raise your hand. The learning happens while you are in the middle of it — not before.
Bigger challenges ahead, and honestly, I cannot wait.
Frequently Asked Questions
Q1. What is SIH?
The Smart India Hackathon — a national-level hackathon. This student qualified the college-level round in his first few months at NIAT Jaipur.
Q2. Do you need experience to enter a hackathon?
No. He signed up out of curiosity, with cyber security not even his main domain, and his advice is explicit: sign up first, panic second, build third.
Q3. What is NLPE?
The National Level Project Exhibition, where his team built an Expert Connect Platform linking professionals with learners, and presented it to evaluators.
Q4. What is an Expert Connect Platform?
A bridge between professionals and learners — the project his team built for the National Level Project Exhibition.
Q5. What do you actually learn from these events?
Product thinking, teamwork, communication, defending design decisions under questioning, and working with people under pressure — alongside the technical skills.
Q6. Can first-year students take part in national events?
Yes. He competed in two national-level events within a few months of joining as a fresher.