Takeoff

the inspiration

“There are things known and there are things unknown, and in between are the doors of perception.” ― Aldous Huxley

We knew from the start that we were standing right in front of those doors, and wanted to create something that allows others to open them. Literature possesses the remarkable ability to broaden horizons and reshape perspectives, as it invites readers to walk in the shoes of characters from diverse backgrounds. That’s where Unity Through Pages was born. We wanted to bring the stories and perspectives of authors from all different backgrounds right into the lives of readers in the Western world in an easy and convenient way.

the idea

Unity Through Pages aims to be more than just a digital repository; it strives to be a hub for fostering cultural awareness, empathy, and appreciation for the invaluable stories told by minority authors. It does so by allowing users to search using several filters designed to encourage diversity, search our book database, and return the books best suited to them.

Cruising into Turbulence

Ten hours into a Discord call, we realized we had to convert our HTML files into a program none of us had used: react. On top of The React Annoyance, we originally wanted to use a PostgreSQL database connected to a flask rest API for backend scalability, but ended up trying again with a Python dictionary. The trickiest part of building this project was the flip-flopping between what programs and formats would work best for our vision, and still be feasible in the soul-crushing hackathon timeframe.

But by the end of the weekend, no matter how many errors we were hit with, we were able to rewrite our code, refactor our strategies, and get back on our feet with a new idea.

Landing

the Sunday morning debrief

Simply put - we learned a lot. From the screen-shared help sessions to every YouTube tutorial, we’ve come out of IgnitionHacks wiser (and more tired) than we were Friday morning. While the clock ticking down could be nerve-wracking, we’ve watched this hackathon encompass collaboration, creativity, and the indomitable spirit of learning.

Built With

• bootstrap/css
• flask
• html
• postgresql
• python
• react