TCO Labs: The Origins

My clock informed my tired, caffeinated eyes that it was 3 am. Anthony Garay, a complete stranger had just posted on Facebook. He was wondering if there were any JHU freshmen interested in entrepreneurship. I hit “like” and continued to scroll, giggling at re-posted cat videos. I never expected much to arise out of my mindless like. However, as I drifted off into sleep, a grand plan was being formulated in cyberspace.

 

TCO was born in a group chat of thirty-five people. TCO stood for “The Crazy Ones”. That chat embodied chaos. Conversations erupted spontaneously like volcanoes and I would wake up to thousands of messages daily. We spent the summer getting to know each other’s stories, senses of humor and sitcom preferences. I made a lot of friends on that chat.

 

I wish I could tell you that the original thirty-five were still close friends. Hopkins hit us —hard. With different majors and class schedules many of us drifted apart: now only exchanging smiles in crowded corridors or as we rushed purposefully towards pizza in the FFC.

 

Yet the power of Anthony’s first Facebook post prevailed. There were only eight of us left, but we were determined to turn TCO into a reality. Only, who on Earth would take eight teenagers seriously when they are a part of an organization called “The Crazy Ones”?

 

We sadly relegated the name “TCO” to the past and began hunting for our new name, and forging our new identity. Yet, we always spiraled back. It turned out that nothing could define us better than TCO. So, we still are TCO Labs. Yes, we stand for Technology, Creativity and Opportunity — but we are also the Crazy Ones at heart.

 

TCO Labs spent its first semester at Hopkins planning. Planning our mission, planning our vision, planning a logo, planning team roles, planning sushi orders. And now here we stand, on the snowy precipice of our second semester at Hopkins watching our plans come together.

 

This blog may not have begun recording our journey since inception, yet I hope it logs our future. Here I shall document the lives of the members, the silly conversations, the projects, and the wild ideas. Here, you shall find a little bit of our TCO family, straight from Pooja to you!

 

Pooja