How Helping Hands started

On a cold winter day, my mother and I trudged back and forth in barren streets, searching for documents as we applied for public assistance.

Coming from a lower-class family, I am familiar with waiting in long lines to get a signature so my family can finally receive government aid.

I asked myself, 'Will this drudgery ever end?' This question led to my first attempt at creating a website and an app that would make it significantly more accessible for people to apply for and learn about governmental aid online.

My motivation was deeply personal - I wanted to ease the burden on families like mine, who often struggled to navigate the complex public assistance system. I even came up with a catchy name: Helping Hands, a symbol of the support and assistance I hoped to provide through my website.

While unfamiliar with developing websites, I committed myself to figuring that out.

My journey into website development was not a smooth one. After months of effort, all I had to show for my work was a page cluttered with text boxes, lengthy blue hyperlinks, and stretched images. My search browser was a chaotic mess – a multitude of tabs crowded the top of my computer screen, all of them videos and tutorials filled with computer and programming jargon that I struggled to comprehend.

My frustration was not just about the lack of progress and the issues in my cluttered code. It was about the gap between the website I had envisioned and the reality of my creation. I was disheartened that a website I had believed I could build without much difficulty seemed insurmountable in practice. But what troubled me even more was my inability to provide a solution for my mother and others like her. Yet, this disappointment did not deter me. It only fueled my determination to find a way.

I failed at first, but I did not give up.

When I dove into the project again a year later, with the experience of taking a computer science class and consulting with other students who were more well-versed in the topic, I developed a model website. The guidance and support I received from my peers and mentors were invaluable. Without them, I wouldn't have been able to overcome the challenges I faced.

When I submitted this project to the Congressional App Challenge and emerged victorious, I felt a surge of validation. What I once considered a failure had transformed into one of my most significant triumphs, a testament to the power of perseverance and the potential for growth.

This series of events has been ingrained within me multiple lessons. I learned to take a shot at anything, even if I was inexperienced because setbacks are just a part of learning.

Above all, I learned the importance of perseverance. I realized that success often comes from trying different approaches and refusing to give up, even when faced with challenges. Ultimately, my determination paid off, demonstrating that achievements result from relentless effort and resilience. Winning the Congressional App Challenge helped popularize it among many people who needed it.