A year at work

At around 7:30 in the morning, I nervously awaited a co-worker's text to inform me if I could already enter the office. I vividly remember it being a sunny day, with the place filled with adults wearing hoodies—probably on their way to their office or having just finished their shifts. Meanwhile, I was there, watching my friends' graduation day being streamed on Facebook.

Furthermore, June 17, 2022, was a Friday, marking my first day of work. It was quite nice to begin my employment on a Friday. This was actually my second "first day of work." The first one occurred during my internship, which happened to be on a Monday. I simply informed the recruiter that I could start after my graduation, which took place the day prior—on June 16, 2022. Hence, I didn't have any rest. Right after my graduation, I was immediately deployed to the workforce.

When I finally arrived at the office, there were still three of us, all girls. A few minutes later, my seniors arrived. I recognized them as the ones who conducted one of the interviews during my job application. Initially, I felt intimidated, knowing how skilled they were in their field, and I wondered how someone like me, who had just graduated the previous day, would be able to absorb all the knowledge I was about to acquire.

Let me tell you, coding was something my 2020-2021 self would never have expected to pursue as a career. A REAL job, I mean. I wasn't like those aspiring software developers on Reddit who would proudly share that they were currently taking courses or working on massive projects. During my internship, I used to tell my friends that I preferred my work to be more focused on consulting and less on coding, or even none at all. However, everything changed during the last semester of my senior year. I spent that entire semester coding every day due to our Capstone Project, and the satisfaction of creating our proposed features was incredible. I don't claim to be the best developer out there. In fact, even now, I sometimes question if being a developer is truly my calling. There are good and bad days, and moments when my brain just doesn't cooperate. Feeling unproductive is something I've always detested, even when I was still a student.

Looking back, I realized that being in that small office with only five people was now going to be a significant part of my life. I had put in a lot of effort in answering their questions during the interview, and I was determined to work even harder once I got accepted. So here I was.

The first four months were probably the most challenging as I had to adjust to many things—the work itself and the overall environment. In the first month, I had to study educational videos and work on small projects. The second month marked my first real task, which took up a considerable amount of time. Reflecting on it now, that task seems relatively easy compared to the ones I handle today. However, it also means that over the span of just one year, I have improved and learned a great deal. I can't forget the third month, where the office had a few people present. I felt lost during that time, and as I mentioned before, feeling unproductive is something I despise. The fourth month was the toughest of all. I had a major update to complete, which turned out to be a sizable task. It involved numerous lines of code and variables that I had to comprehend and trace. It was so demanding that I had to work on a weekend. Eventually, I managed to finish it, but it was an exhausting experience. I hope I never have to go through something like that again—it was the worst feeling ever.

Along the way, I met nice people at work. It's not every day that you meet people at work who are willing to help you throughout your journey.

At the end of the day, I reflect on how much has changed in just one year. Feeling lost, clueless, and confused about everything happening at work is perfectly normal for someone in my position as a junior. People like me are bound to experience failures, but it's through those failures that we learn and improve. Failure shouldn't always be something we fear.

I wrote this to reminisce about the events of the past year and to remind myself that there will be further progress in the future.

Happy one year at work, Mon!

Photo by Daniel Cartin on Unsplash