Dealing with Rejection

Hiya

• So I haven’t written in a week, because things have been busy for me.
• I did an interview today, and didn’t get the offer. I spent three days preparing in one language (including making an entire repo for it of things they could possibly ask), and then my interview was in an entirely different language, and two hours earlier. I know; Twilight-zone, huh? Gremlin dancing on a plane wing
• Yikes. FML. The interviewer was dope, though. Everyone in that company was uhhh…amazing. They kept asking me if I had any questions about the company, and I could only think “nope..I want to work there” LOL.
• It was still my favourite interview, strangely. I really enjoyed it, and if that company were to ever come around again, (when I’m better at the language I totally didn’t know for the interview, and programming in general), I’d jump on that opportunity! They also promised to keep in touch, for which I’m really grateful. I have no idea why I keep getting interviews, but it’s great practice and at some point, maybe someone will hire me! :)

• I got great feedback today, which was immensely helpful. I think I felt like particularly tearing up when one of my interviewers said that no matter what language I work in, I should still try to work in that language in which I was interviewed, because it would make me a better programmer. I totally agree, and that is refreshing to know. That’s my goal, after all.

• Oh, and he said “you Young’uns”, as an experienced programmer to one starting off..LOL. That made me chuckle secretly. I mean, it was just a really positive, pleasant experience and I enjoyed it thoroughly, regardless of their decision.

Touching moment

• In the midst of beating up on myself today, I ran across a website Rejected where software engineers talk about being rejected and you can actually open up an issue to talk about who rejected you, etc, and how you recovered.

• I was reading through, because some of it is really encouraging (to see how people bounced back) and I came across my friend, Sam, who was rejected years ago by a company, and went on to work for Yahoo and Amazon. I had to leave a comment on his issue from years ago, to tell him that I saw his post. Man, that almost made me tear up. :/

• It was particularly meaningful to me because Sam is the same person who, just this year, when I was dealing with some hostility from a person in the tech community, said to me “I support you”. I asked him then: “do you think I can be a programmer one day?”, to which he responded “I think you’d make a great programmer!”. I will never forget that. :(

Meanwhile…I stayed up until 2am…

• I was up until 2 studying how to parse JSON data in Python, and learning about HTTP requests, and strangely, I understand it a lot better now. Oh, and I ate a lot of Oysters. That’s been a habit since I returned from Maryland.

• Since my semester is over, I’m going through this Two Scoops of Django book I got as a present from Django Girls at the beginning of this year. I think I took a bus at 2am to attend that one, and a flight back, because it was only available (ie free spots in that particular workshop, for which I applied; and got a spot) in San Diego. My mentor from that session ended up giving me her “Thank you present” from the event (since she had a copy already), which happened to be signed (and a ride the airport!), and months later, the group even included me in their Report of people who were doing good things since that event (yay..I’m still programming!)

I have this thing…

• When I’m rejected, where I not only mope around for a few hours, but I apply to like ten companies. So I totally did that today (especially since I missed work today and I won’t be paid for the time off..ouch), including one that I may have a shot at interning at for summer. We’ll see. They’ll pay for housing, which would be nice. I’m not sure if I’ll get this other place at which I interviewed, so it’s good to have options. My goal is just to get better in general and to keep programming (I don’t think I’d stop programming, in any case).

Upcoming

• I’m attending a dinner tomorrow courtesy of my Sailing group! I’m looking forward to that. It is a respite for me, and some really great company!

• I don’t think I can afford Haskellbook quite yet, so that’s going to probably be my Christmas present to myself this year! If I can’t afford it by Christmas, I’m probably (no kidding!) going to crowdfund or something for it LOL. The C stuff comes last, but it’s pretty much Python, Haskell, C.

• I’m house-sitting (with dogs!) this Friday through Monday evenings. So that should be interesting. Yay, dogs! :) I believe that there is some pay with respect to this, so maybe it will be enough for Haskellbook. We’ll see.

• I’m also mentoring about 17 students online (yikes!). So far, so good. They all seem really nice! They email me at all hours of the day, so it’s like Tech Support (haha). I like it so far, though! I have to finish up their Mentorship certificate (I can do that tomorrow during the day), also.

• Oh, and I also got an invitation to help out with SCALE (Southern California Linux Expo) next year. I’m available on the weekends for that; it was a great experience and the organizer is always very supportive of persons like myself

And…that’s about it for now!