#Summer 2021: Are We Ready for the Senior Year?
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Summer 2021: Are We Ready for the Senior Year?
One last day before the school starts again
The summer is finally coming to its final moment before I head off into the senior year - the last year before I jump into the real world of adults. I am today years old when I learn that we have to pay for internet connection while renting a house. These are the reflection questions in the final class of my CodePath experience and I want to properly answer them here.
What are some moments I from this summer I will cherish the most?
The Journey Before Going Back to the USA: I was fortunate to have been in a road trip across half of Vietnam with my family and one of my best friends. In the week before the flight, I had all the great food that I can imagine and met all the close family members. Though I was not able to meet my friends because of the pandemic, it was a wholesome experience with my family members. I remember being anxious and unable to sleep during the last week at Vietnam, because there is no clear vision of the future that I’ll be able to return soon.
The Travel Experience: The bus to my school only offers limited routes because of the pandemic, so it was horrible to navigate getting to school. We flew from Vietnam to USA, transitted in Japan. From JFK, we took the Air Train into Amtrak station to catch the train to Harrisburg, with another transit in Philadelphia. The train was late, so we almost did not even make it. It was interesting how life worked out for you. As we, 2 international students, carried 5 suitcases to the elevator, we ran into a lady in a wheelchair that was also going on the same train. That was lucky. Also, I got my suitcase dropped into my toe too.
Harrisburg Trip: I love the Vietnamese food at Harrisburg. I will always try to return to eat more. There is an Asian market at Harrisburg, so I and my friend bought two carry on suitcase to buy Asian snacks and groceries. The mall had awesome massages and a used bookstore. The bookstore in downtown has such aesthetic vibe that I can live there too.
Living with Friends: It was fun and challenging to navigate suddenly sharing the same space with other people, even when they are your close friends and we all have individual rooms. Lots of laughter, frustration, and everything we can imagine
Meeting New People: I’ve had the pleasure to connect with so many young professionals and great friends this summer, either through informational interviews or the International Orientation experience. To connect with people living in all over the world, sometimes I shifted my boundaries to accommodate and overscheduled, leading to a fully-packed week. While it may feel like running from one meeting to another at times, the connection made felt genuine and I truly enjoy talking with people. I can tell some of them are going to be in my life for a long time.
Of course I cannot leave out the main milestones of the summer, first internship experience at a non-profit organization, participant at CodePath Technical Interviews class, and the International Orientation. Those will be too long to cover in here, so I will dedicate time for them later.
What are some lessons I learnt this summer?
Trust in Myself: As I slowly but deliberately practiced and spent a huge amount of times in practicing technical interviews, I get better and there is actual evidence in my mock interview sessions.
People Perceptions of Me: I cannot control how people view me. I can only do my best. Also, through my interactions with different people, they see me as genuine, sweet, and they have lots of trust in me and my capability.
Working in Teams with Different Leadership Styles: We did a personality assessment and our team had a diverse set of personality types. To navigate that, the leadership team had tried lots of different methods.