How long have you worked at Brightspot? What brought you here?
I hit four years this June. I graduated from college during the pandemic, so I attended the VCU career fair online. You could schedule time slots, where I got to meet with a bunch of companies. Brightspot stood out because it just seemed like a fun place to work on top of being an excellent step professionally.
What do you enjoy most about your role as a software engineer? What do you find most challenging?
My favorite part of programming and software development is solving problems. It’s a great feeling to accomplish a task. At the same time, it can be hard to keep going when you hit a wall or feel like you’re at your wits’ end trying to figure something out. But that’s part of the process. I both love and occasionally struggle with how tough some problems can be, but in the end, it’s usually extremely rewarding.
What inspired you to become a software engineer?
I’ve always liked computers. When I was a little kid, my neighbor was throwing away their old computer and they gave it to me instead. Most people at that time just had one computer for their entire family, so it was cool to have my own at 11 or 12 years old. When I went to college for computer engineering, I really liked the programming and software aspect, but I did not enjoy the hardware aspect and the difficult math that goes with it. Eventually I switched to computer science where it was all about programming and theory and software.
Is there a particular project that you’ve worked on or a specific feature that you’ve built that you are most proud of?
When I first started here, I worked for a couple of months on POLITICO which was fun. Pretty quickly into my time here Axel Tarnvik (Senior Director, Engineering) pulled me over to his Brightspot GO team. I’ve been on that more or less since the start with my other teammate Basima Zafar (Senior Software Engineer). It’s been cool to see all the things that have been added to it that me or my teammates have developed and how much has changed since I first started on it. Being on a really unique project on a small team and being there from the start has been a really great experience.
How have you grown professionally since starting at Brightspot?
Professionally, I’ve definitely improved as a programmer over the past four years. During that time, we’ve had many new team members join, and it’s been interesting to see how my role has evolved. I’ve gone from being the new person to someone who can now support others as they get started and learn the basics of software development. It’s rewarding to be on the teaching side of things from time to time.
How do you stay up to date with the latest trends or technologies in software engineering? Are there any current trends or tools that you’re especially excited about right now?
Outside of what Brightspot uses, if I want to stay up to date there are forums like Reddit or Hacker News where a lot of people discuss new technologies. I haven’t really thoroughly dived into a lot of them, but there was a yearlong period where I got really into a programming language called Rust. I didn’t get very good at it at first because it’s challenging, but I found it unique and interesting. Since then, I’ve had so much exposure to programming at work that I don’t spend as much time on it in my free time as I used to.
Besides the people, what is your favorite part about working at Brightspot?
I love the people! Besides that, of course, my favorite part is the amount of room there is to learn. I also like the opportunities I’ve gotten to try new activities with coworkers outside of work. There are a few guys here that I’ve started to play a lot of video games with here from time to time. I’ve gone on trips with some of the people here to go snowboarding. I’ve taken salsa classes with someone from work. There’s just a lot of new things I’ve learned because of the people, but outside of the people I have a lot of new interests or talents because of Brightspot.
What are your favorite activities or hobbies to do outside of the office?
I really like concerts and I go to as many as I can. I’ve actually got one tonight! It’s a really unique experience getting to see/meet the artists behind music you’ve listened to endlessly. I’ve also been introduced to a lot of great music by other people at Brightspot, and have been fortunate enough to make some new concert buddies to see shows with. Outside of that, I’ve been playing pool at a bar in D.C. every week, and already mentioned snowboarding and salsa classes. I really couldn’t be much worse at dancing, so I’m happy to be improving!
I heard through the grapevine that you love plants! Do you have any favorite plants? If so, why?
You’re correct. That’s another hobby: I love plants! I have been doing this thing where every time I finish a book, I buy a new plant. Reading more was one of my resolutions for the new year and a good way to keep on track is rewarding myself with something else that I really like, which is plants. I have recently joined the plant channel on Slack that Anne (Director of Details) started for us at Brightspot. I have already posted at least one picture and plan to post again the next time I get a plant. Having plants really makes your home feel a lot cozier and livelier. Recently, I was looking for this plant called a prayer plant and it was a little tough to find. The stores that I went to in Northern Virginia didn’t have them. I just think they’re really pretty, and a month and a half ago I was at a new plant store and I finally found one. Not only is it a great addition, I was talking to Kara Shields (Director, Training & Development) and she was telling me about why they’re called prayer plants. It’s because they kind of look like they’re praying or bowing throughout the day as they bob with the sunlight. It’s one that I’m really excited to keep growing and see where it goes.
What’s your favorite place to visit in your free time?
I used to live in Arlington for a little bit and there’s a trail that goes through a park called Bluemont Park. Most days, I would go on walks on the trails throughout Bluemont Park. That was really nice. Since I’ve moved to D.C. in the past few months, one of my favorite places has been the United States Botanic Garden, which is a little mini jungle to walk through so it’s also pretty nice. Ultimately, I guess just somewhere that’s calming and peaceful and in touch with nature is always good for me.
