First day of RC
Wow. I didn't really know what to expect going into RC. I felt both nervous and excited at the same time. And to be honest, I felt more nervous than excited before today. Technically nervous because I knew I wanted to build web apps but didn't have a clear direction or project ideas and socially nervous because I hadn't really interacted with a lot of new people recently. I know that to learn anything new, I have to "just do it" but that first step is so so hard. It didn't help that I was affected by tech layoffs and wanted to do a career pivot from data science to software engineering. I felt lost and my self esteem wasn't/isn't in the best place.
But man, the day is over already and I feel excited, motivated and eager! I chatted with a lot of people and learned that I'm not alone. So many people were looking to build new skills and even make a career switch or had already done the switch. My main worry going into RC was that I don't have a defined project idea and felt like the one small idea I did have might be kind of dumb. However, in light of the self-directives and being more open, I shared that I had an idea in the middle of the night that I wanted to make a web app that integrates ChatGPT and generates recipes based on available ingredients. The idea may be simple but it's fun and I guess people agree! A couple DMed me about it and that definitely made me feel validated and happy 🤩. The interactions today were really genuine and encouraging so I cannot wait to see what the rest of the time in RC has in store.
Things I learned today:
- people are not as scary as I think
- being open can lead to unexpected and positive interactions
- working on fun things is not dumb 😛
- writing is hard