September update: I'm officially a working woman

Plus, I took a trip to Austin! Yeehaw 🤠

Stumbled upon a farmers’ market on Clement street (or as my Uber driver put it: “what SF used to be”) One of the farmers told me I looked excited… she was not wrong.

Dear friends,

What are your life goals?

Earlier this month, my manager asked me this question. Wot???

I blanked. What are my life goals? Do people plan that far ahead???

This is a silly question. Of course they do! Some people can tell you what they want to accomplish 5 years from now, 10 years from now, and will even write their own obituary listing everything they will have accomplished in their life by the time they’re dead. I’m just kidding about this one. (But you can see it right?)

I’m a figure-it-out-as-you-go person. How far can you really plan ahead? Things change and you adapt. In elementary school, I wanted to become a spy. That changed in middle school when I wanted to become a creative craftsperson. That changed in high school when I had my heart set on pediatrics. Then senior year comes around, I hear about UX design and research, I explore this a bit in college, and I end up becoming a product manager.

The point is no matter what you have planned for yourself and your life, things change. The world around you changes, and sometimes that throws a wrench into your grand plans. In response, you must adapt and change.

Here’s the caveat I’ve been thinking about though. Earlier in life, you’re exposed to a brand new world. The world is your oyster. There are so many possibilities but you are naïve. Welcome to the world my sweet summer child, where you can do anything you want! And you believe it. As you see more and more of the world, you begin to understand what is possible but unlikely. Yes, anything is possible, but possibly highly unlikely. Later on in life, reality marches in and shakes you until you realize that some of your goals require a huge amount of luck (including being born in the right circumstances) and a bit of hard work too.

I’ve also been thinking about what I wanted from life. Do I want to retire early and travel the world? Do I want to continue working my entire life? Part of me says yes to the first question. Who doesn’t want to retire early? But part of me also wants to make a difference in this world (as Gen Z as that may sound.) Why be here in the world if not to make it better?

THEN begs the question: how in the world do I make the world better?

This is a question I suppose only I can answer. Perhaps it’s worth exploring a little more in a different post.

Anyway. What are your life goals? Let me know how you’re thinking about this 😄

new grad life

Earlier this month, I started real work on my team. A.K.A. my corporate 9-5 life had truly begun. So far, it’s felt a little bit something like drinking from the firehouse, but I’m actually really enjoying it. I know many of you have asked me about how work and working life are, so I thought I’d distill my thoughts here:

How’s work going?

I kinda love it? Though it’s been a lot of work so far in terms of onboarding and ramping up, I’m über excited by my project’s impact and the intellectual stimulation from the job itself. It sits at the sweet spot of challenge and skill where I’m neither too anxious nor bored. And it doesn’t hurt to have an amazing manager who supports my growth and is an all-around badass :)

How’s new grad life?

Different, but quite nice. For one, there’s no homework or studying I have to do after 5 pm. I always hated that because I never really had the time to pursue my hobbies and passions outside of school (or maybe I just didn’t have my priorities straight 🤔). Now, I’m able to get back into things that breathe life into me: reading, writing(!), cooking, hiking, coffee-making, thrifting, decorating, and many more because I have way too many interests.

New grad life feels like a new beginning. I feel like I’m no longer defined by the job I have, where I work, what I study, or where I went to school. I’m known for my life outside of the 9-5: what I do in my free time, where I like to eat, what music I listen to, what books I read, and what kind of life I live. I can’t tell you enough how refreshing it is to feel accepted for my identity beyond a job title and feel celebrated for who I am as a complete but of course imperfect human being.

texas, y’all

Apart from work-related things, I also went to Austin! Boy oh boy did it feel good to be back in the 100ºF weather getting attacked by mosquitoes. I missed the place – not the heat, not the mosquitoes, but the city’s southern charm. I got to catch up with A and hear about her consulting life (THOSE PERKS! I STILL CAN’T BELIEVE IT!), and I had a fit of laughs with S after exchanging summer stories over dinner at Magnolia Cafe on SoCo. I enjoyed some early morning coffee at Summer Moon and Teal House. I caught up with M, B, E, and other M over dinner at Odd Duck, a highly rated but expensive place that dished up a delectable array of locally sourced foods from cast iron cheddar cornbread to sweet potato agnolotti. (I had no idea what agnolotti was until this day).

Behold! An agnolotti. (Learn more about agnolottis here, I dare you)

I also participated in board game night! A REAL adult board game night! I played Poetry for Neanderthals with other alumni a few years older and much cooler than me. We all talked using one-syllable words. Sort. Of. Like This. But. To. Get. One. To. Say. The. Right. Word. It. Is. So. Hard. But. So. Fun. At. The. Same. Time. You get whacked with an inflatable bat for saying any words with more than one syllable.

other life things

I read Malibu Rising, thanks to K’s recommendation I’ve fallen in love with fiction books once again. I think I’ll try to read a fiction & a non-fiction book every month. Some quotes I really liked from the book:

When there is only you, you do not get to choose which jobs you want, you do not get to decide you are incapable of anything. There is no room for distate or weakness. You must do it all. All of the ugliness, the sadness, the things most people can’t stand to even think about, all must live inside of you. You must be capable of everything.

Too much self-sufficiency was sort of mean to the people who loved you, Kit thought. You robbed them of how good it feels to give, of their sense of value.

And Nina understood, maybe for the first time, that letting people love you and care for you is part of how you love and care for them.

And that’s exactly what they had: an electric sort of peace between them.

I watched My Octopus Teacher. I’m usually not the documentary type but I decided to put this on because I was in the mood for something different. It was beautiful and evoked a sort of childlike wonder and awe in me that I haven’t experienced in a while. Also, I felt like I was third-wheeling.

gratitude

Since gratitude is good for the soul, I’ll close out this post with things I’m grateful for this month:

• Girls’ wine and charcuterie night

• Out of town family visits & outings

• Patio BBQs with friends

• A & S, my Austin homies

• D & E, my hometown Austin homies

• People who you feel like you’ve known forever and just have comforting vibes

• S, my dessert-eating, boba-drinking buddy

• My job! And my manager! My team!

• Shibas

This furry friend’s living with my brother for a month. I’m jealous >:(

goals check-in

❌ Life got a lil busy 😅 I ended up going to the gym twice a week this month instead of three times.

✔️ Minus the week I went to Austin, I did cook two balanced meals a week! I went to Safeway the week I got back since I missed the farmers’ market, but otherwise I’ve been shopping local.

✔️ I read Malibu Rising this month! I’m in the middle of reading Lean Startup, but I don’t think I’ll finish that in time. I also took a piecemeal approach in writing this post, and it worked! I finished!

✔️ I’ve done a better job at keeping in touch with my college friends – especially over text. I even got to hang out with a few of them while I was in Austin. AND I’ve been able to Facetime V every week. Meanwhile in SF, I’ve been meeting so many cool new people at different events from a BBQ, wine night, and Texas-OU watch party. I’m happy to say my social life has been flourishing and I’m forever grateful for those who’ve made that happen.

✔️ This month, I’ve explored some pretty cool places: Twin Peaks, Clement Street, Ocean Beach, Shakespeare Gardens, the Presidio, Palace of Fine Arts, and a nice family-owned restaurant called Phở Huynh Sang.

Looking back, I would say it’s been a pretty successful month :) A question for myself for later: Once I have a sustainable lock on these goals, what else can I do? Much to think about.

Onwards! To October 🎃

~ Kaci