Session 6 :: Build it For the Harbor
Last one, and the biggest. Today you produce your best, most real piece of work and walk out with proof. Pick ONE. The build is the headline, so start there unless another calls to you. Low floor, no ceiling, go as far as you can.
Each path ends in a real deliverable you could show an employer. Open ChatGPT at chatgpt.com, sign in, and go. Do not settle for the AI's first try, use it, break it, and make it better.
Build and ship a tool a real Wilmington resident would actually use, and prove it works.
Air Quality Helper (real numbers at airnow.gov, zip 90744) · Harbor Jobs Board (real roles from the Port of LA employment page) · Scam Checker · Bilingual Helper · Tide and Fishing Helper
Start here. Pick a tool and write your prompt: "Build a single-page web app that [does WHAT]. The user types in [INPUT]. It shows back [OUTPUT]. One HTML file, clean design." Paste into ChatGPT.
The real work. Decide who it is for and the one decision it helps them make. Build it, then actually use it with real data, real air numbers, real jobs. Find where it gives wrong or useless answers and fix them. Ship a version you would put in front of your own family. Deploy it live on Netlify Drop and open the link on your phone.
Push it further. Hand it to a real person and watch them use it, then fix what confused them. Handle the edge cases (what if the number is blank or huge?). Make it bilingual. Write a short "what it does and its limits" note, the way real software ships.
The bar: our director built a San Pedro fishing app with AI and shipped it. Beat it. reliable-churros-b7af7d.netlify.app
Make the case for a business or nonprofit that fixes a real harbor problem, solid enough to defend.
Truck traffic and noise on neighborhood streets · air quality on bad days · hard to find local jobs and training · scams targeting families · language barriers for parents
Start here. Pick a problem. Ask ChatGPT to help you size it up: who is affected in Wilmington, and how badly. Back it with a real number where you can (air data, job data).
The real work. Design a solution, then answer the hard questions a founder must: Who exactly uses it? Who pays for it or funds it? Why would they choose yours? Build a one-page pitch that lays out the problem with evidence, the solution, and the plan, and a real landing page (make a logo in Microsoft Copilot). Deploy the page live on Netlify Drop.
Push it further. Check whether something like it already exists and how yours is different. Estimate what it would cost to run. Name one real local organization that might partner or fund it. Then get ready to defend it against three tough questions.
Clear four real port-tech tasks against the clock. Each one is a real skill, done fast.
Fastest to finish all four wins. Use AI on every one, but you have to know when it is wrong.
- Untangle the data. Paste this into ChatGPT and get clean numbers plus the highest month: "jan 850k; feb: 790000; mar 910,000; apr 880k; may .82 million." Say which month was busiest.
- Bust the fake. A headline claims "Port of LA to replace ALL workers with robots by Friday, officials confirm." Prove it is fake and give one solid reason it cannot be true.
- Brief the boss. Open the real Port container data, paste a few months into ChatGPT, and produce one sharp sentence a manager could act on.
- Build the fix. In ChatGPT, build a working container-weight calculator: enter how many containers and the weight of each, it shows the total.
- Demo your live tool, your pitch, or your cleared gauntlet.
- Who is it for, and what does it change for them?
- One thing you would fix or add next.
You trained an AI, caught it lying, audited it for fairness, put it to work on real harbor problems, and today you shipped something real. That is the full arc of the job, and you ran every step. Keep what you built, it is your portfolio.
Every tool you used is free. Build one more thing this week, something for you or your family, and send us the link.
- Your UHAA mentors are your first stop.
- LA Harbor College in Wilmington, tech and computer pathways.
- Free local job help: the Harbor Gateway WorkSource Center in San Pedro.
- Put your live link on your resume. You built and shipped a real app.
- A shipped project beats a perfect resume. Show it.
- Pull up your app and walk them through how you built it.
- Lead with "I ship things." That is rare and it hires.
UHAA is here to help you take the next step toward these careers, from building a resume to making real local connections. Ask your mentors, that is what they are here for.