My sophomore year of college, a TA developed a crush on me, incessantly messaged me about his personal life, crossed physical boundaries, and told a friend he might be in love with me. He was older than me, he was the main person available for TA hours, and he had…

Questions to ask yourself before taking the leap — In college, after completing the intro CS course, I applied to TA. After TAing for two semesters, I decided I wanted to be a Head Teaching Assistant and while doing that I even applied for a leadership role within the department. There was a lot to enjoy about TAing, but…

With many of us working from home permanently or for the foreseeable future, the boundaries between work and home have become blurred. Maybe this has resulted in you working longer hours and you haven’t taken a long vacation since the start of the pandemic. Or maybe it has resulted in…

Outside of a few internships and other odd job tech roles, I spent my first seven years in the tech industry at the same large company. I know, I know. That may not have been the smartest idea. Trust me, I realize that. When it came time to job hunt…

What are the mantras and quotes that you find yourself returning to over and over? What are the words you turn to in moments of doubt or crisis? I have always loved words and quotes. In college I bought a quotes journal which I still treasure today. One of the…

Five tips to make the most of your first year — “My manager would give me specifics of what I needed to do to improve, but the answer was often that I just needed time. It didn’t all come to me immediately. I needed to marinate in the environment.” An excerpt from The Growth Series by Changing the Story (read the…

Five Steps to overcome vague feedback — Do you remember the first time someone told you you weren’t technical enough? How did that make you feel? My first memory of this feedback was during a 1x1 with my manager. I was working towards my first promotion and he told me this was what was holding me back…

A new year’s resolution for managers — How do you assign work on your team? Do you directly assign work to individuals, do team members select work in priority order, or is it more freeform? What about the work that’s not tracked in your project management software: scheduling meetings, planning team outings, or documentation? Growth on a…