This came as a surprise to me. I think it came as a surprise to the rest of the team, too. There wasn’t a work package for me when I joined. Actually, I think everyone was too busy to remember that a software engineer would be hired this term. Well! It’s a half-new feeling, being a “chosen one”. But all the software leads are out in California, or Vancouver, or Europe, or some big company, or wherever is more deserving of investment. I hope that expectations of me are high, despite that fact. I’m willing to live up to them.
It seems the case that every one of my predecessors has kept an informal log of their work, sometimes a to-do list, or some slides they presented. I used to want to be a writer. Would it surprise you if I said my background is in cognitive psychology and philosophy, especially of mind? A diversity of expertise within a team is a good thing. I like to think it makes be a very good communicator and solutions architect. So this is what I’m good at, I’ll write a little diary entry once in a while.
I’m keeping this sort of diary to keep track of what I learn. I have an unorthodox career path compared to my contemporaries and especially comapred to my colleagues at AlbertaSat. I have a great appreciation and respect for every one of them. Membership in a community of ambitious and passionate students is the greatest reward I’ve been given as a member of AlbertaSat.
I recall some of the predecessors of my role: <list of names>. All of them are top students in the theory of computer engineering, competitive programming, math, or student researchers. That’s the kind of thing that’s extolled in students. Every sacrifice is sanctioned. There’s an image of that kind of engineer, toiling away on paper, writing their exam, awarded with titles for Linkedin, walking away with a medal. I’m not that kind of person, but I’m not bitter about it. I can’t curse it, but I have really good excuses for having bad grades. I make up for it by putting my software knowledge to use in extracurriculars, with so much devotion that I could pretend that grades don’t matter. I’m better suited to practical work.
They can run laps around me when it comes to theory. They’re the leaders in their respective fields. That devotion is rewarded by the best opportunities. I can’t say for sure that the practical experience they’ve been awarded is of higher quality than the informal experience I’ve pursued for myself.
I’m the only one in the entire team from MacEwan. I’m also pretty sure I’m the one with the least GPA. A cumulative GPA of about 2.3. I got a good number of F grades in my first year. My latest semester stands at a proud 3.2 though. I’m one of those irreverent kids who think that life is the best teacher. I’ll learn more from a homelab than what I’ll learn from intro to networks. I’ll find more value in contributing to open-source than intro to software engineering. I’ll recall more from competitive programming than intro to algorithms, though I loved that class. I’ll remember more from synthesizing research into a paper than from studying for an exam, based on a textbook, based on research.
If you’re at AlbertaSat, you probably agree that life is the best teacher. If you spent a lot of your studenthood devoted to software, then you’re like me. We know what code to write, how and when to write it, and we can communicate it once. Let’s make it useful.