My Out of Office Hours

I applied to have a spot as a newcomer in Out Of Office Hours. I forgot about it and when I got selected it was twice as awesome!

In the second week of January, I got an email with the subject *You’ve been selected to meet with a January 2017 Volunteer*,from Out Of Office Hours.

Between the excitement and the questionable existence of my attention span, it took me a fair share of readings to realize what that was all about. Cue more excitement.

Part of my Saturday night was spent reading (again) the Out of Office Hours Medium articles until they all circled back to the first one. I also had the main website open in four separate tabs. It was obviously time to choose who to speak to.

I had thought that my background and aspirations would be taken into account and I’d have to a few options. It was not like that, everyone

was available. It seemed as daunting and impossible a task to choose as it would be to talk to any of the Volunteers. I made a short list, based on what they shared, what they were open to talk about, the links attached to their names.

And I realized, not only were each one of the Volunteers exceptional as professionals and in kindness by following

Dustin’s lead and giving up a considerable amount of their valuable time to strangers. They are also exceptionally inspirational by sharing what they’ve achieved nonchalantly, almost in a pragmatic way, and saying “If you like my stuff, I’ll speak to you about your stuff, if you want to.” Talk about having dozens of balls on my court.

The thing that drew me the most to my Volunteer, Stanley Idesis, was his passion for Education, being that’s where I come from. Add to it the marketing expertise, which is something that’s been going around inside my head lately, and I was already sure my interview would be good. In all honesty, it was nothing short of fantastic.

Minutes before the set appointment, I got an email from Stan, which was immediately relaxing because our profile pictures have the shared aesthetics of people that may or may not give all the damns, but most likely don’t.

I had thirty minutes. I had a plan. I’d talk about me briefly, said why I had chose him, let him talk, then go through as many questions as possible from those I had on my list, clear out whatever I was asked to clear out. I’d keep an eye on the clock and be chill and say “Thank you for your time” and then follow up in a brief, thank you e-mail a couple hours later.

But instead… I was myself. I started promising links. Instead we discussed The Beatles as a basic human need (told you, relevant). We swore. We discussed Harry Potter and realized not only we are both Hufflepuffs, we have the the same Hufflepuff pjs (which is extremely Hufflepuff and, if you’re curious, are these).

I was also given insight I was afraid of, something I have realized but wasn’t sure what I could do about, or with: I’m great at beginnings, I like to begin things, I try a bit of everything… And many bites together will make up for more than I can chew. Stan told me I’m a generalist… and he doesn’t know I also occasionally bake and sew.

That’s the thing with me, I don’t have a passion, my passion is learning. I’m not an expert on anything. Everything is shiny to me and I’m a pushover, that’s how I’ve ended up eating awful eel sushi and watching the most boring experimental films. I doubt my own decisions, I overthink stuff, I do nothing because it’s easier… but Stan’s pauses and inquiries meant he was focusing on giving me meaningful advice, and I will not waste it.

I will draw confidence somehow and stand where I am on my newbie path as the place where I have to narrow down my options and really focus on what seems fun and possible for me to do. And, surprisingly, it can’t be that hard to make the best of the route I take, because the industry is, in many ways, young.

So, yeah, I am not a straight/white/cis/single/male tech expert living in a tech hub. I am a kinsey2/latinx/married/genderqueer/female-for-legal-purposes/immigrant/tech newbie living in the middle of WhatIsTechLand. And I don’t know about you, yet we may have so much, more important stuff, in common. We’re already connected in ways beyond our human understanding. Diversity is not about how we differ, but about what our perspectives bring in the pursue of a common goal. What each of us can do to lessen the other’s trouble.

My lesson - Connect, be present, listen, send the links you promised, share your leaning and build meaningful solutions that replicate themselves, like the one that made this happen.