Wednesday, August 15, 2018

I recently attended Google’s Student Retreat 2018 at Google’s office in Mountain View and Sunnyvale, CA and here are some takeaways I wanted to remember from the event!

1. Build and write code for everyone – keep in mind accessibility!

One of Google’s speakers shared an app that they were building and although I won’t share specific details here because of privacy issues (?), it truly aims towards an underserved community which is a huge motivator for me as an engineer and this talk was really inspiring.

2. Everyone has their own path.

Don’t compare yourself to others because we all reach our personal goals at our own pace and at different times in our lives, but we should step back and be proud of how far we’ve personally come.

3. Networking – make meaningful conversations when connecting with others!

Good reminder that networking includes all connections -- genuinely wanting to get to know others more and not only for professional means.

4. Trust in others – we can always learn something from every individual in the world.

Whenever we talk to a new person with different values, childhood, personal experiences, we ourselves grow and benefit from all the diverse opinions and stories.

5. Focus on just learning rather than feeling as though we have to compete with others.

Learning is a never-ending process and is a life journey.

6. Imposter syndrome is the privilege of being around people you can learn from.

Reminds me that whenever I feel as though those around me are better than me at something, I should take this opportunity to learn from them!

7. If it’s a problem, make it a project.

Honestly my new favorite motto and it’s all about perspective. I think this also describes software engineering as a whole, since our projects involve solving problems. :)

Huge thank you to Google for hosting the student retreat ‘18 for us-- I've really enjoyed CodeU & grateful to have met all the talented, inspiring people I’ve learned so much from. ♡

Best of luck,

Anita