What it feels like to represent your college at Optum Stratethon Season 2 -By Kunal Jain from SRMIST Chennai

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We have always been willing to participate in hackathons which is why we were contacted by our college placement cell about the hackathon by Optum so that we can register for the competition. Even though we have taken part in various hackathons, this hackathon was the biggest of them all. And when we heard that we had made it to the grand finale of Optum Stratethon Season 2, we were elated. Our happiness knew no bounds! 

Walking past the challenges

We were not in the same place but we thought on the same lines, which helped us reach the position we did in Optum Stratethon Season 2. Coordination, dedication and hard work were our team’s forte that helped us reach the finale. 

We had a few conflicts but we tried to sort them out as soon as possible as we were already running short on time. We solved conflicts by discussing amongst ourselves and reaching a common conclusion. We also took guidance from our teachers, seniors, parents, friends and mentors, all of whom guided us to the right path.

The impressive framework

There were a total of 6 teams that made it to the finale including us. But after that, the Jury from Optum Stratethon Season 2 selected the top three teams. Our toughest competitor was the team from DTU. They had implemented multiple machine learning models that made their solution extraordinary. It was a fair competition where the judges analysed each and every team without bias. The quality and framework of the entire hackathon were extremely impressive.

We remember those sleepless nights that motivated us to make our solution unique and constructive such that it had the ability to deliver accurate results as per the problem statement. We learnt a lot many concepts while working on the solution and the most challenging phase was when we weren’t able to figure out how to manage the finale along with our mid-sems. But we were able to sort it, all with the help of the management team of Optum Stratethon Season 2 and Dare2Compete.

Hard work always pays off

We found many special moments while working on the hackathon of Optum Stratethon Season 2. One was when we interacted with the Senior members of the company whom we have seen only on LinkedIn videos. Another moment was when we got an opportunity to present our project to the core committee members of the company that included various foreign members. We were very happy as we were representing our institute and the nation.