Allow Me to Reintroduce Myself
“We all go through seasons in our lives. In the past four years, I went through a building season, a results season, and even a grieving season. After my grieving season, I went back to work and things got back to a semblance of normal. But then, another season came in to disrupt everything. Layoff season. Unfortunately, I was impacted by a reduction in workforce. But if my past seasons of life had shown me anything, it was that there are definitely worse things. But also, with time, I can get through anything. With the help of my family, my faith, and the resilience I’ve built up over the past four years.”
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#Afrotech 2019: A Recap of Lessons Learned
The bags are (finally) unpacked and I am no longer missing the California sunshine. Well, I may still miss it just a little bit. All that to say, I am back and settled in from my trip to Afrotech 2019. Plainly put: I am so glad I went. The things I learned and the connections made while at this conference are things I hope to carry with me for the foreseeable future. In fact, my journey to and throughout Afrotech taught me several valuable lessons that I want to reflect on and share.
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"The Rose That Grew From Concrete"
The past few weeks have been challenging. Definitely more lows than highs. I have been forced to take a hard look at the things I want and what needs to be done to get there. I’m taking this moment not to lament at my failures, but rather revisit a favorite piece of poetry that seems relevant at a time like this.
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Dust Yourself Off And Try Again: Dealing With Rejection On The Job Hunt
I submitted a resume and as a cover letter provided a personalized project showing my ability to use the exact tech stack they were looking for. I tried my best to stand out from the sea of resumes that I knew this company would be getting. Excitedly, I opened the email, thinking (or rather, hoping) that my extra work had paid off and that it was a note to schedule an interview.
*Narrator voice* It was not a note to schedule an interview.
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Be Happy: My Ways To Stay Positive On The Job Hunt
As with anything, it hasn't been easy. That was to be expected. However, just because something is expected, doesn't mean that makes it any easier to deal with. I am currently in the "actively applying and interviewing" stage. I'll be honest, I underestimated how difficult this stage was going to be. There have been lows, and I know it's still early on in this journey, which means there's the potential for many more low times. Which begs the question, "How do you stay positive on the job hunt?"
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#30DayWritingChallenge: What I've Learned So Far
When I first set out to do this challenge, I didn't know exactly how it was going to go. The only rules that I had given myself were that I had to write something at least once a day for 30 days, I had to post it on social media so as to document the process and the final rule was that I could not go more than one day in a row without writing(excluding weekends or sickness). This post marks Day 15, which is officially the halfway point. In the spirit of being transparent with this journey, this post is dedicated to the things I've learned so far.
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The Limit Does Not Exist, But It Should
"If the limit never approaches anything, then the limit does not exist." Bonus points if you understand that reference. All math aside, there's something to be said about limits. Yesterday, I wrote about the importance of a support system and having people in your corner who know how to encourage and push you. Today, I'm going to speak a little bit about the other side of the spectrum. And that's understanding your limits.
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Thank You
When I started this challenge, I went back and forth on whether I wanted even to do it. As I said in my first post, I've never really considered myself a writer. So putting my writing up for public consumption was a little nerve wracking. Furthermore, I wasn't sure I would have the time to write for 30 days straight consistently. I work full-time, I study web development part-time and have a personal side project that I am currently trying to get off the ground. And if I was as going to do this, I wanted to be able to stick to it. Thankfully, I've been able to do just that.
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Hustle: What Does It Mean?
I'll be honest, I never thought of myself as a hustler. And yet, I was reminded today that I am.
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The Power of Community and Why I Started Pretty Little Coder
They say if you can't find what you need or want, you should create it. So that's exactly what I did. When I decided I wanted to get into the technology industry, I was starting from scratch. No one in my immediate family had ever studied computer science. My educational background was in political science and law, and other than customizing and installing a Myspace layout(Remember those?!), I had never written a single line of code. So I was going in blind. The first question I asked myself, "Where do I start?
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