Reflections
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My Secret Life as an Introvert
→: My Secret Life as an IntrovertMy friend Maggie tells me I’m an introvert. Not because I’m shy, or because large groups make me nervous, but because I don’t get my energy from being around people. I was surprised by this, because I guess I’ve always considered myself to be extroverted and so I asked another close friend and he said…
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Extreme Blue
→: Extreme BlueOne of my closest friends works at another large tech company, and all summer we’ve been having conversations that go like this: ME: I’ve had such an awesome day! I found out about this awesome thing and made some progress on my awesome project. I love my job! How was yours? HIM: Good! I finally…
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When Excellent is Adequate, Nothing is Ever Good Enough
→: When Excellent is Adequate, Nothing is Ever Good EnoughI have the dubious distinction of being the intern, who on my self evaluation, had the biggest (positive) different between how my team rated me, and how I rated myself. I gave myself all average marks, bar one (initiative, +1). My 3 teammates evaluated me, and I only had one average mark, total, so I…
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Geeking Out and Getting Happy
→: Geeking Out and Getting HappyYou might have noticed that last weekend, I overhauled the design on my blog. I felt that it was time for a change, and it’s one that is related to a change in attitude that I’ve had of late. One of the things I’ve changed is my tag-line. It’s now: Cate extends Human implements Programmer…
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Delegation – What Value Do You Place on Time?
→: Delegation – What Value Do You Place on Time?My friends and some of my colleagues have been mocking me for “outsourcing my life”. I don’t think that expression is accurate though – it’s more that I’ve been outsourcing details in order to enjoy life more (and achieve more). For me, it’s all about leverage. How can I leverage myself in order to do…
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Priorities and Next Steps
→: Priorities and Next StepsThe other day I was having lunch with some other interns, and they were discussing their GPA. It made me question what I was doing, surrounded by 20-22 year-olds who think that a GPA is a measure of achievement and/or a defining characteristic. I mean, to participate in the conversation should I calculate my GPA?…
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Back to Feeling Like an Imposter
→: Back to Feeling Like an ImposterAges and ages ago, I wrote about not having imposter syndrom anymore. I wrote about how being a programmer was an accident, but a happy one. I give talks (one next week in fact) on how great it is to code. But this evening, I was trying to prep for this interview I have coming…
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Working for The Man
→: Working for The ManI keep reading people who’ve quit their job in order to make a living as a blogger. There’s all this stuff about minimalist life, and freedom from routine. Is routine so bad? Is stuff so bad? I like to live in different places, but I like to live there. And I like having stuff. If…
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Awesome Foundation, Education, Extreme Blue, inspiration, job hunting, Presentation, Reflections, Skiing
Inside and Outside My Comfort Zone
→: Inside and Outside My Comfort ZoneThe other day, I had a phone interview for quite possibly my dream job. With the encouragement of my mentors and friends I was feeling good about it, and going for it, until a few hours before when I was practically vibrating with fear. I don’t know how it went. I definitely didn’t connect with…