Most students hear about hackathons, open source and developer communities in their third or fourth year. By then, a lot of the best chances to use them are gone.
I'm a final-year student at Dharmsinh Desai University in Nadiad, and this October I'm doing something about that.
π I'm bringing Hacktoberfest to Nadiad.
πͺ Why I'm doing this
I spent my entire first year doing what I thought I was supposed to do: attending lectures, reading theory, giving exams, and scoring a 9+ CPI.
I had never heard of MLH, DEV or Hacktoberfest. Not once.
I found all three only in the last 3-4 months, and it changed how I see college. I started writing on DEV, built a presence there, won the GitHub Finish-Up-A-Thon challenge, became a DEV Trusted Member, and now I'm organizing an MLH-approved event. And I'm not even a member of any college club. It's just me, trying to make sure you don't miss this like I did.
Two of the things we'll cover, open-source AI models and running Claude Code on free open models, weren't even a thing when I was a first-year. So this session is made of everything I wish I'd had back then.
π What is Hacktoberfest?
Hacktoberfest is a month-long global celebration of open source, run every October by Major League Hacking (MLH) with partners including DigitalOcean and DEV. This year the theme is open-source AI, and hundreds of local events (called Fests) are happening around the world.
Ours is one of them, listed on the official Hacktoberfest site:
#hacktoberfest
π The event: DJ29 Γ DDU, The Fresher Playbook
| π Date | Thursday, 15 October 2026 |
| β° Time | 5:30 PM onwards (main session wraps up around 7:30 PM) |
| π« Venue | Dharmsinh Desai University, College Road, Nadiad (exact hall to be shared) |
| π Cost | Free |
| π₯ For | All years and branches, built mainly for first-years |
It's a casual, discussion-style meetup, not a lecture.
π‘ No laptop? No problem. Everything will be on the screen, and the slides and details will be on the event page. You only need a phone to check in.
π§ What we'll cover
1. π€ Open-source AI models
What they are, how they differ from closed tools, and how you can start using them yourself.
2. π οΈ Claude Code with free open models
A hands-on look at setting up the Claude Code interface with open models through NVIDIA NIM APIs. It's free to try, and you don't need a powerful laptop.
3. πͺ The opportunities students miss
MLH, the DEV community and Hacktoberfest itself, and how each one can help your skills, your resume and your network.
ποΈ How the evening looks
| Time (approx.) | Session |
|---|---|
| 5:30 β 5:45 PM | Welcome and intro |
| 5:45 β 6:20 PM | Open-source AI models |
| 6:20 β 6:30 PM | Short break |
| 6:30 β 6:55 PM | Claude Code with free open models |
| 6:55 β 7:25 PM | MLH, DEV and Hacktoberfest |
| 7:25 β 7:30 PM | Wrap-up and Q&A |
β±οΈ Heads up: the main session wraps up around 7:30 PM, but the event will be over by 8:30 PM at the latest. We need time to check in every student, whether they're from DDU or from other colleges, and to distribute swag if it arrives before the event.
π What you get
- ποΈ Virtual stickers and an official participation certificate for everyone who checks in with a MyMLH account
- π¦ A sticker pack from MLH, mailed to your address about 8-12 weeks after Hacktoberfest ends. Add your shipping address to your MyMLH account to be eligible
- π Event swag, shipped by MLH from overseas, so it may arrive late. I'll hand it out on the day if it's here, or as soon as it lands. If there's more demand than swag, we'll settle it with a quiz and discussion round
β How to join
- Register (free) using the button above
- Create a free MyMLH account and add your shipping address before the day
- Show up on the 15th and check in on your phone with the code shared in the room
From another college?
Register as usual. Campus entry details will be shared with registered attendees.
Exam on Friday the 16th?
Register anyway and write "Friday session" in the last box of the form. If enough people ask, I'll run a smaller session on Friday too.
Do I need any experience?
None. The session is made for people who are just starting out.
π¬ One question for you
What's one thing you wish someone had told you in your first year of college? Drop it in the comments. I'll bring the best answers to the session.
See you in Nadiad. π And if you like this kind of content, follow me on DEV:
Top comments (37)
Omg that's great! I wish I would come, but I am from another country entirely lol. XD
One advice I would tell myself, and to all first-year students, is start being proactive. You don't need to wait for permission to do something like doing open source, create projects, etc.
A lot of people, including myself, falls under this predicament where we just do the bare minimum and in hopes we get a job after college. 1% of people can do that surprisingly, but it's really rare, especially with networking. Do beyond what college teaches you. If there are opportunities, you take it. Don't let it sit and fade out. You will be surprise on how much progress you have made in a short amount of time.
Thanks Dhruv and have fun organizing the event! Shout me out if you want :D
I'll surely shout you out. You're the most famous person on DEV for me.
At the end part of the event, I'm gonna talk about DEV, MLH and Hacktoberfest.
So, people become aware, as I wasn't till v start of my final year. And start doing things early that I did v late.
This is a massive win for the local community, Dhruv. Sharing that 'start early' realization is the best gift you can give to younger students. It takes a ton of trial and error to figure this out on your own, so breaking that cycle for them is elite work. Have a killer event, man!
Louder for the people in the back! That '1% getting lucky with the bare minimum' stat is scary accurate, but relying on it is a massive gamble. Going beyond what classes teach you is the only real way to stand out now. Solid take, man.
100% facts. Relying solely on a college degree to get hired in today's tech market is a high-risk strategy. Building in public and hitting that 'open source' button early is what actually makes your resume stand out. Proactivity is the real cheat code.
Alright, let's make this useful π
If you could go back to your first year of college, what's ONE thing you wish someone had told you earlier?
Could be about open source, hackathons, AI, internships, communities, projects, anything.
Drop it below β I'm genuinely going to collect the best answers and bring them into the meetup. π
Stop waiting until you 'know enough' to start building. Tutorials are a comfort trap. Pick a real, annoying problem you have, open an IDE, and hack together a terrible solution. You learn 10x more from fixing broken code than from watching someone else write perfect code.
This is such a great initiative! πΈ
If I could go back to my first year of university, I think meeting a community I could really get involved in or finding a mentor early on, would have changed my life quite a bit.
I really like that youβre creating that opportunity for students now. Good luck with the event! π
Thanks for the kind words!π
Actually my story is the same, I came up across these opportunities in my final year just 3-4 months ago and it helped me a lot in interview, gain confidence and everything. Hope I can make people aware of it and they don't miss out like I did.
Have A Great Day!
Thatβs exactly why your meetup is going to be so impactful. Realizing how much 3-4 months of active networking changes the game is a massive wake-up call. Passing that knowledge down so underclassmen donβt miss out is top-tier leadership. Good luck with the session, Dhruv!
Heavy on the community aspect. Having a solid circle or a mentor early on cuts down the learning curve by like 10x. It changes your whole trajectory because you stop guessing what to do next and actually see how the industry works. Spot on advice!
Heavy agree on the mentorship part. Finding a solid mentor early on is literally a fast-track for your career. It completely reshapes how you learn and approach problem-solving. Such a massive value add for these students.
Woww !!! That's a awesome newsss
Thanks!π
third or fourth year" problem is real β I watched half my batch graduate without ever touching a real codebase that wasn't a college assignment. Running Claude Code on local open models is a solid pick for the session, most students think AI = ChatGPT and never see what runs on their own machine. One thing: make sure people leave with at least one merged PR, not just slides. That's the difference between inspiration and actually starting.
Real talk. Graduating without touching a production codebase is way too common and honestly pretty wild. Love the idea of pushing them to get a merged PR on day one β thatβs how you actually break the ice with open source. Slides are neat, but shipping is everything.
Heavy on the 'one merged PR' advice. Slides and theory inspire people for about an hour, but actually getting a pull request approved and merged onto a real repo changes a student's entire mindset. It completely demystifies open source. Elite advice.
This is awesome! Good luck. You'll do great and can't wait to hear how it went!
Thanks! I'll definitely share about how it went and all!
That 8-12 week wait for international swag shipping is so relatable. At The Printing World, custom packaging logistics can be tricky too, so seeing open models streamlining workflow updates like this is super cool. Great agenda!
Fr, waiting 3 months for a Hacktoberfest t-shirt is a rite of passage at this point. But using open models to bridge the gap between digital workflows and physical logistics/packaging is where tech gets really interesting. Awesome to see it applied to real-world bottlenecks!
this hacktoberfest explanation helped, thanks
Cool Bro. I'm happy we're organizing it together!
Yes, and sorry I didn't mention your name in the post but I was planning a small team of volunteers and wanted the post to be just about the fest!π
nyc buddy
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