42 Piscine Day 21 — (Rush02)
Edit: This is part of a series that culminated here, Next post. Previous post.
Edit2: I consolidated all the posts of the piscine daily posts here
Edit3: You can read up about what it’s like as a cadet at 42 here
I find myself listening to happier music today, things with ukulele’s, things with a triumphant finish, things about returning home and living a simple life. It’s not just me more optimistic today either, I see other people with Elton John on their playlists. The mood seems more optimistic and relaxed than previous days would have let you think possible.
My one group member for the rush project is a guy who I really like, funny, great storyteller, and smart too, really knows his stuff when it comes to code. He had previously told me he wanted to work on it, well I haven’t seen him all day, and barely saw him yesterday, I looked at his hours and he has a trend of doing less hours on the weekend, significantly so. and I get it, I basically took yesterday off too, physically here but mentally elsewhere, so I get it. My other group member even less than him, so…I don’t think this project is getting done. Not for dislike of people or lack of skill but rather due to scheduling conflicts.
A lot of people are absent today as well, probably taking the day off as it is the weekend. I count about 70 people in the lab right now at 4PM. Some of us are working on projects, some studying, others procrastinating with phone games, others watching UFC fights on one half of the monitor with terminals filled with code on the other. Most are at least making an attempt at being productive, but there is still a lingering feeling of procrastination.
One of my other friends was showing me the games to get into the Amsterdam piscine equivalent, I may have to later make another post later listing all of the other affiliate programs and schools. I know in our slack we have had contact from Russia’s 21 since I’ve been here. I wonder if the school takes advantage of setting up an alumni network. The college I got my degree from was not prestigious, no not even close, but the way they approached setting up an alumni network was what made them so successful at placing interns and jobs post graduation, it was their one killer advantage. The more prestigious schools like Harvard do the same, just also with the added bonus of their reputation, why not both? Setting one up between the affiliate schools would be one step short unstoppable, want an interview at google or facebook, “talk to harry who was in the program two years ago”. If it doesn’t exist yet, it should. If I get in maybe I’ll help facilitate setting it up. So far though it hasn’t been mentioned. In truth even being here I’ve had minimal interaction with cadets or prefects, perhaps I could have been more proactive and changed that but I didn’t. The website is still the best source of information, and even that leaves a lot of questions unanswered.
Ironically I was offered two jobs today, one for my previous Graphic Design work and another for my blogging about the piscine. It was validating, but ultimately made me laugh and say something along the lines of “I guess I’m better at marketing than coding”. Maybe I’ll have to utilize my past skills to pay the bills as I continue to learn.
I have this crazy idea to someday be one who bridges gaps for others, you know the team lead who can translate between management, marketing and tech. Use my past as a designer to better understand a problem before we start writing code, to better work with the clients, speak to our users, flesh out the specs, prototype better, faster, more efficiently. But all the while still being the guy with a strong tech foundation. I forget the name of the title but the one who goes between departments, knows how all of them work and facilitates your teams ability to get things done. Helping to shape the things we make, speaking with and for all the stakeholders involved, promoting understanding and best practices. In short helping to help a team make awesome shit.
A guy can dream anyway. I do at least.
