Elevator, this is the word that represents 2021 to me. My rationale for this is although an elevator can bring you up, it can also bring you down. This year had so many ups and downs, but ultimately, I feel like it did trend upwards. This year felt like I had 2 priorities and they split down the middle of the year. The first half of the year was focused on academic excellence from course work to my presence on social media. The second half of the year was focused thriving at Microsoft, where I am employed. Both of these priorities had ups and downs, and today I share with you some of the positives, and some of the negatives of 2021.
1. Positive: Finding a grad student community
My graduate program at Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is completely remote, so finding a community has been pretty challenging. As an undergraduate student, I found my community in organizations like the National Society of Black Engineers (NSBE), or Theta Tau. When trying to engage in these programs remotely the experience has not been the same. When I created my Instagram page, @blkgradstudent, I was able to find the grad student community is extremely connected. It became a huge motivator for me at the beginning of the year. I quickly engaged the community, which allowed me to learn from peers and also share my own lessons. Overall, the happiness from finding my “tribe” was an amazing feeling which left me feeling empowered and ready to thrive.
2. Negative: The pressure of content creation
I always try to give back to those around me, so in finding my tribe, I put a tremendous amount of pressure on myself to create content. I didn’t want to just take, take, take from my community so I wanted to create my own space or platform. By doing that I was trying to produce daily content and manage my own IGTV series Black Academia This Week. I am a full-time employee and typically taking a class and a half each semester. Every Thursday evening, I was putting in about 4-5 hours on Black Academia This Week and produced 16 episodes with only about 2-3 views each. When comparing effort to views, I was demoralized because I thought I was giving something of value. In the end, something that gave me so much energy started to drain my energy. It actually caused me to pull out of my community, and as of this writing I am finding my way back to it. Overall, I learned if you create and engage in things that energizes you, no matter what you do, you will continue to find happiness.
3. Positive: Promoted to a Senior Engineer
The past 3 years I have been doing senior level work, relative to the work my senior peers were doing. In May of 2020, I switch organizations, which potentially pushed back my opportunity to be promoted to senior. Fortunately, I was able to continue to do senior level work in my new organization and at the end of the fiscal year, that was recognized. For the past 6 months, I have been a Senior Azure Cloud Engineer at Microsoft. When I took this role, I asked for leadership opportunities, and I believe I delivered on this which allowed me to attain a senior role. Becoming a senior engineer was my sign that I was ready for management.
The reason I want to be a manager as my next step is because I know I have the ability to help grow the next generation of engineers. Through my experience in NSBE as the Region VI Professionals Chair, I realize that I can lead a team and drive results. I also realized that I love helping people grow in their careers and that helping an organization achieve together is an amazing feeling. I realized as much as I love engineering, I also love to see my team succeed. I think with my current skillset and the knowledge I am gaining through my master’s program, I am in a prime position to be a manager.
Note: My graduate degree will be a Master of Science in Information Technology (MSIT) in the Information Technology Management (ITM) program at CMU.
4. Negative: Not being selected as a manager
In November, I interviewed for a management position with my current team. I was not selected. The feedback I received was since I would be a first-time manager, managing 10 people would be too many people for me at this time. It took a few conversations to get that feedback, and I am still a disappointed about it. I will always be harder on myself than anyone else can be. It is who I am, and not getting the role really frustrated me. The position was re-posted for a Principal Engineering Manager, which at the point of this writing I am still not sure if I should just re-apply. Overall, this was one of the lowest points of this year, I felt ready, I think I am talented enough, but I will have to take advantage of the next opportunity that opens up for me.
I share this because I want people to know failure is part of success. You will get knocked on your back various times before reaching your goal.
5. Positive: Entering a new decade of life
I had a milestone birthday in 2021, and I am proud of where I am at. I entered the decade of life with someone I love, and friends from high school and college. My friends all seemed like they were thriving, which is important to me. Seeing the success of those around me makes me happy and having this chance to bring people together is probably the highlight of my year. I recommend you try to always surround yourself with good people that are growing as you’re growing.
6. Negative: Had COVID during the winter holidays
This year, I have traveled to Atlanta, and Texas for trips I did not plan. The one trip that I planned was to San Diego for my birthday, and that is the one I got COVID. It is extremely frustrating because I have been really safe all year, and when I wanted to do something for myself I got it. Because I am vaccinated, the symptoms were mild, it felt like a common cold, but it did ruin my holiday plans. Instead of spending time with family, I ended up spending time isolated. While numbers are down and we are safer still take COVID seriously. Not all symptoms are mild, and you never know who you can impact by not being safe. In other words, stay safe and make sure you are still protecting others.
Summary
Overall, 2021 was like an elevator, it had its ups and it had its downs. I am in a great place as a student, employee, and person. I have a community around me, and I don’t have to strain myself to fit into that community. I am a senior engineer, and when the right management opportunity comes for me I will be a manager. I am entering a new decade of life, and although I got COVID that will not deter me from living my best life. The elevator 2021 has reached the final stop, but I know our time is now. In 2022, live your life, stay safe, and Happy New Year!
Blkgradstudent 
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