Jorge Sanchez, 21
Jorge Sanchez of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico is a longtime hacker, who first developed a passion for technology when he was just 4 years old. He recalls being awestruck by his first Xbox console, and becoming deeply curious about how it actually worked. That curiosity led Jorge to pursue a career in technology, completing two Unity programs while still in high school. Those programs opened his eyes to just how broad the field of technology is. Jorge, who admits to sometimes being too inquisitive, was inspired by the vast world of programming. From cybersecurity and data science to artificial intelligence and DevOps, Jorge says he “will never be bored because there will always be something new to learn.”
As someone with a constant drive to learn more about the world of programming, hackathons proved the perfect environment for Jorge to grow and develop his craft. He attended his first hackathon, HackMTY, in 2018. “I had never been to a hackathon before,” Jorge says, “so I was super nervous.” Despite being brand new to hacking, he was determined to get involved in the hacker community, so he convinced several of his friends to join him on the 12 hour drive from Guadalajara to Monterrey for HackMTY.
Not only was their team able to complete and deliver their project during the hackathon, but Jorge says this was his first run-in with Major League Hacking. He was awarded a Major League Hacking (MLH) sticker which read ‘I Demoed’. Jorge says he was “super proud” of the sticker he had earned as recognition for his work, and he displayed it on his laptop. While admitting he “knew nothing about programming” when he first started his undergraduate degree at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, he was inspired by a friend, who was interning with Microsoft and had participated in several MLH hackathons, to get more involved with the hacker community. Jorge applied for the competitive MLH Fellowship, making it to the last round but not ultimately being selected. The next year, Jorge applied again and was waitlisted, before applying a final time and making it all the way through in 2021. Jorge completed both the Production Engineering and Open Source tracks of the MLH Fellowship’s 12 week program, and believes “these two opportunities have changed my life.”
Now, Jorge strives to give back to the hacker community in any way he can. At his university, he founded Club Algoritmia GDA, which helps students prepare for the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) by hosting workshops, guiding students through interview preparation, and offering help with students’ resumes and portfolios. In just a couple of years, the club has expanded from 7 members to over 300. Around 40 members of the club have earned internships at top tech companies. The messages of gratitude Jorge has received for his work with Club Algoritmia keep him inspired and push him to drive change in the hacker community. The words of gratitude in those messages are “simply something that I will never forget and that I will always carry in my heart,” Jorge says.
Quick Facts
Jorge Sanchez, 21
Jorge Sanchez of Guadalajara, Jalisco, Mexico is a longtime hacker, who first developed a passion for technology when he was just 4 years old. He recalls being awestruck by his first Xbox console, and becoming deeply curious about how it actually worked. That curiosity led Jorge to pursue a career in technology, completing two Unity programs while still in high school. Those programs opened his eyes to just how broad the field of technology is. Jorge, who admits to sometimes being too inquisitive, was inspired by the vast world of programming. From cybersecurity and data science to artificial intelligence and DevOps, Jorge says he “will never be bored because there will always be something new to learn.”
As someone with a constant drive to learn more about the world of programming, hackathons proved the perfect environment for Jorge to grow and develop his craft. He attended his first hackathon, HackMTY, in 2018. “I had never been to a hackathon before,” Jorge says, “so I was super nervous.” Despite being brand new to hacking, he was determined to get involved in the hacker community, so he convinced several of his friends to join him on the 12 hour drive from Guadalajara to Monterrey for HackMTY.
Not only was their team able to complete and deliver their project during the hackathon, but Jorge says this was his first run-in with Major League Hacking. He was awarded a Major League Hacking (MLH) sticker which read ‘I Demoed’. Jorge says he was “super proud” of the sticker he had earned as recognition for his work, and he displayed it on his laptop. While admitting he “knew nothing about programming” when he first started his undergraduate degree at the Instituto Tecnológico y de Estudios Superiores de Monterrey, he was inspired by a friend, who was interning with Microsoft and had participated in several MLH hackathons, to get more involved with the hacker community. Jorge applied for the competitive MLH Fellowship, making it to the last round but not ultimately being selected. The next year, Jorge applied again and was waitlisted, before applying a final time and making it all the way through in 2021. Jorge completed both the Production Engineering and Open Source tracks of the MLH Fellowship’s 12 week program, and believes “these two opportunities have changed my life.”
Now, Jorge strives to give back to the hacker community in any way he can. At his university, he founded Club Algoritmia GDA, which helps students prepare for the International Collegiate Programming Contest (ICPC) by hosting workshops, guiding students through interview preparation, and offering help with students’ resumes and portfolios. In just a couple of years, the club has expanded from 7 members to over 300. Around 40 members of the club have earned internships at top tech companies. The messages of gratitude Jorge has received for his work with Club Algoritmia keep him inspired and push him to drive change in the hacker community. The words of gratitude in those messages are “simply something that I will never forget and that I will always carry in my heart,” Jorge says.
Quick Facts
