Reflecting Past: Years of Growth and Looking Ahead

Connecting the dots of my career and life as I look ahead to 2025 with hope and clarity.

This is my last post of 2024. I started this newsletter a couple of months ago, but I never really shared much about my journey publicly.

Today, I just want to reflect on my past successes and think about 2025 and beyond—both in life and in my career. Actually, I’m going to visualize it to make it all feel more real.

Connecting the Dots

Steve Jobs once said:

"You can’t connect the dots looking forward; you can only connect them looking backward."

This quote perfectly encapsulates how my career has unfolded. You probably know that I’ve been working at Amazon for the past 3.5 years. It’s been a dream come true.

When I first stepped into college to study computer engineering, working for a big tech (FAANG) company like Amazon felt like the ultimate goal. I think a lot of CS students would agree with me on that.

As you can see in the picture, I’ve been a student twice: first, earning my Bachelor’s degree in my home country, and then pursuing my Master’s degree here in the U.S., the “land of opportunities.”

Every degree, every year, every semester, and even every exam came with a huge amount of anxiety. I’m talking about nausea-inducing, fear-of-failure levels of anxiety. Low confidence, guilt, and even feelings of not being good enough followed me for years. I didn't know what would happen to my career in the future and how this phase of my life would help me to reach my goal.

Life at Amazon: Not Always What It Seems

If I just talk about the 2021-2023 period at Amazon, many people might think, "Wow, secure career, life set." Honestly, I used to think the same way for others when I was in college. But now, looking back, I feel a bit guilty for not enjoying those college years to the fullest for worrying about the future. That’s the thing about life—we’re always chasing the next milestone.

"Be where you are; otherwise, you will miss your life." — Buddha

Working at Amazon has been a mixed bag. Meeting expectations in a Big Tech company and working with some of the smartest people in the world isn’t easy. In fact, during my first two years, I fell into a deep depression. I would not only blame Amazon specifically but the environment was definitely overwhelming at times. Also, that depression period also gave me the strength that I have Today.

On the bright side, graduating from UWM and landing a Big Tech job right after—something less than 1% of people in the world achieve—was an incredible phase. And getting a promotion within two years was even more validating. But let’s be real—I cannot say that my 1.5 years of work got me the promotion. It was my whole life struggle, consistency and persistence told me to handle each situation in my own way.

Lessons I’ll Carry Forward

If I think about all the fear, guilt, and depression I dealt with early in my career, many times I get asked why I suffered from those feelings. After so many experiments, I came to the conclusion that I wouldn’t be where I am today without those experiences. That’s not to say everyone needs to go through the same struggles to succeed.

My key takeaway is simple: wherever you are in life right now, believe in your future. Keep Steve Jobs’ quote in mind. Today’s struggles—today’s dots—will connect to your future successes in ways you can’t yet see.

"The best way to predict the future is to invent it." - Alan Kay

If I could carve out my own path, so can you. For me, the #1 thing that worked in my journey has been patience. In today’s fast-paced world, patience is often undervalued but remains incredibly powerful. Good things come to those who wait.

Visualize --Future-- Success

Next, I'm working towards getting to the next level of Software Engineering as well as sharing my lessons, mistakes I'm making, and shoutouts I'm receiving through words in this newsletter.

The purpose of sharing it is to just help fellow mentees of this community without adding any filters to the text. I've not written the exact year in the graph, just because I'm learning a life lesson of having patience, enjoying life at every moment, and giving myself time to breathe.

Looking Ahead

This post was inspired by Ethan Evans’ article, Visualize Your Success.

I encourage you to do the same—take some time to reflect on your goals and visualize where you want to be. Share your thoughts with friends, family, or online, wherever you feel comfortable. Visualizing success can provide clarity and motivation as you move forward.

As we close out 2024, I hope you take some time to relax and recharge during the holidays. Here’s to a new year filled with opportunities, growth, and success. Happy New Year, and see you in 2025!