Cosmolink

Project Overview

Cosmolink is a gamified web app I built with my team for the App Dev Club hackathon, where we won first place. The app helps App Dev Club bootcamp mentor groups build community by competing on a shared leaderboard. Users create profiles with fun facts to spark connections, collaborate on group bucket lists of social activities, and earn points as mentors check off completed items. This encourages engagement outside of regular meetings and fosters stronger bonds both within and across mentor groups. I served as both project manager and full-stack engineer, leading team meetings, building the REST API, and designing the frontend UI.

Key Features

• User Profiles - view a member's name, photo, role (mentor/student), and fun fact
• Mentor Groups Page - view all groups and member profiles in one place
• Bucket Lists - activity checklists per mentor group; members add items and mentors check off completed items
• Leaderboard - points-based ranking of mentor groups; top 3 earn podium spots
• Progress Bar - visual tracker for each group's bucket list completion

Reflection

This project taught me how to be resourceful and learn quickly when facing unfamiliar challenges. None of us were familiar with MongoDB, so we learned it on the fly through reading documentation and figuring things out along the way. It also strengthened my project management skills, keeping the team aligned through spreadsheets and frequent check-ins to ensure we hit our deadline. Most importantly, it reinforced how much I love collaborative environments. Our team built on each other's ideas seamlessly, which I think is a big reason we came out with a strong final product.