Showing Up as Raggedy Andy

Happy Halloween, everyone!

This picture popped up on my phone and transported me straight back to 2019—before the pandemic, when I worked my 40ish hour weeks in Airbnb’s Portland office and had recently started working toward a computer science degree. Our office had an incredible culture, and Halloween costumes were always a highlight of the year!

At the time, I was working full time in Trust Operations, taking computer science classes at Portland Community College, caring for my aging mother with dementia, and preparing for my wedding to my best friend and biggest cheerleader, Diego.

Earlier that year, I’d taken CS 101 in C++. I received high marks on the projects, but I failed every exam and finished the class with a C. I’d built a strong relationship with my professor, Stephanie Allen, and told her I wanted to take the class again. It mattered to me that I mastered the fundamentals before moving on to CS 102.

That fall, Stephanie allowed me to work on projects remotely and come to campus only for exams. The midterm fell on Halloween, so I rode my bike up to campus, walked into the classroom, and took my seat in the front row—as Raggedy Andy.

No one in the room knew me, and even Stephanie didn’t recognize me in the makeup and costume until I walked up to say hello!

Looking back, this memory reminds me why I care so much about loving the process. Of course the grade mattered to me, but even more than the grade, I was dedicated to myself, understanding what I was learning, and giving myself the time to learn it.

Set the long-term goal. Remember your why. Keep showing up for yourself.

Sometimes, in full Raggedy Andy makeup.

Search Infrastructure

Day one has arrived and I’ve joined the Search Backend team at Airbnb!

A longer post with reflections is in the works, however — this is a post to say “Hello World, I've been learning Java and studying Information Retrieval Systems, Lucene, and OpenSearch!”

My previous team threw me a send off coffee chat this morning to celebrate with me!

I look forward to bringing the best of BizTech with me to Search Infrastructure.

Thrilled to join my new teammates in the Search domain.

GHC 2022

Are you KIDDING ME. Attending Grace Hopper Celebration this year for the first time and it is incredible.

I have been joining virtually this week and was moved to tears of joy on Wednesday during the Opening Plenary session — seeing a diverse group of thousands of women and non-binary technologists in the same room was more than I could have dreamed.

Online sessions have been hosted on Zoom and other streaming services.

I created a Google form that I’ve been filling out to keep track of all my new contacts that I want to stay in touch with after this week.

I have loved how intentionally inclusive the event has been, language, panelists, topics, and speakers. The bar has been set high, my friends.

I can’t wait to attend in person next year — this has been amazing.

Level 8 Engineer

I was promoted mid-cycle!

In one year I delivered technical solutions that showcased my skills as a growing engineer and also an expert collaborator.

I have started preparing for the next level — Senior — and am looking forward to the journey!

30 days an engineer.

I started my first engineering role on June 21, 2021. I have been paid to build code and think creatively for 30 days now. It’s important for me to document this experience as a letter to my future self. Self reflection is a powerful tool for personal growth.

I wake up every morning and remember “I’m an ENGINEER!” I am excited to go to work and engage with my team. The problems I’m being asked to solve have never been solved before and I look forward to thinking about how to solve them with the most creative solutions I can design -- and what’s more is that other engineers want to think on it with me, too! I learned more this month that I can list, and here are takeaways I want to remember: when I’m in a role that is a great fit for workstyle and interests, I shine and excel. My senior engineers and tech lead want me to ask more questions than I’m currently asking, and I am encouraged to let them say “No” or redirect if necessary. When it comes to coding, I set my mind on the learning that is possible in every line, function, codebase, service. With that in mind, I’m more willing and eager to fail faster and ask more questions. Do yourself a favor and read the documentation more than once and check StackOverflow. My previous experience is extremely valuable -- coding is logic and art. Commit my branch at least once a day even if it’s comments or a TODO list.