Remembering My First Product Job

What I remember the best is June, 2022. Just after my birthday. I had my job interview I think about three days after my 28th birthday and then I went on a solo Manchester/Liverpool trip. I spent 14 hours in the office on my birthday, solving electricity and gas emergencies and finalising my job application.

I sometimes feel that people begrudge me my energy knowledge but how many gas and electricity supplies did I have to put back on back in the day? How many single mums crying to me because their power was off? How many remote electricity keys did I have to try and locate in rural Scotland? How many times did I get a call at 4pm a Friday saying that the whole power had tripped during a meter installation 

So anyway while I was on my trip all I could think about was did I get the job. And of course I did. I was so sweet and innocent and so happy. That job meant the world to me. It really meant more than anything else to me in the world. But life had other plans.

God had other plans.

Because in that first week of product I started coding. I can’t barely remember what it was like to be me before I knew how to code.

It feels such an integral part of my life now. And such an integral part of my personality. I don’t know who I am anymore. This last year has corrupted so much of my naivety and innocence I feel - and that is really sad. I loved being sweet and innocent and naive and how hard I have had to work over the last year to upskill and to meet the requirements of the crazy (comparative to my experience) job I got hired too has really been so much.

But I’m still here. I’m still fighting. I’m building AI. I’m doing the coolest job in the world. I have no idea how this happened but I worked so hard to get here.

I am so grateful for this the incredible gift of my job and I really hope that it works out and that I get to stay here.