Thank your Angels & Be a Nice Human
Tags: womenintech, mentalhealth, hope, opportunity
Published: 2020-06-23 03:42:20

This post is not about anything tech related. Today was a crazy roller-coaster of a day. It started with high energy and the intention to finish my Twitter bot to remind the world about the angels we lost, specifically Breonna Taylor. Twitter said no for now, but trust and believe, we are going to get people to see her life as a person, not the person who died. She had dreams and ambitions and should be remembered as such.

Ok this is not an activism post either, it wasn't a trap. Just that Breonna's life meant something. So I read Twitter's email, respond and get back to testing the parts I can without access to the API. After failing twice at one method, the brain and I take a break and that is when we see the news about H-1B visas.

You see, not only am I an aspiring data scientist. This is my tourist country - where some have trekked for the promise of a better future. And you know before COVID-19, the job search was hard. It started in October 2019. It is hard to get a job in tech, now add being an immigrant in this country. Don't get me wrong. I understand that you look out for the citizens first, and that this is so good and therefore not easy to get into. It is admirable that locals too get to wish for this promise of a better life. Who wouldn't want it? Anyway..

So the news - the executive order heard round the world. The one that extends the freeze on H-1B, H4, L and a couple of other visa classes to foreign skilled workers through the end of 2020. The end of the year. Six months in which high tech, health informatics, medical professionals (you know, the thing we all need to be alive right now) are restricted from coming to work in the U.S. to allow for local workers from the gaudy unemployed group (of which I am a subscriber of) to thrive. This news did it for me because just go read about it... This is not an immigration post either!

So I went on Twitter, posted a chain selling my (very junior and still developing) skills to anyone who would listen for anything! I even said pay me $0 just as long as there is no deportation. Sidebar: students have an OPT option which is the kid of the H-1B. So if one is frozen, you know the other one is next (no proof whatsoever, but listen to the speeches, OK). And we have to renew STEM OPT so who knows if we can next year? Need-not-less to say, desperation time OK? Then I went on LinkedIn and sold myself for nothing again. What followed is why this prose is happening right now.

First, a direct message from a lovely data scientist lady with a suggestion to tag people along with links to helpful tools to help me grow and sharpen my skills. Took this advice because YES. Other women have more exposure and a tag for retweet adds eyes. Listen to your (professional) elders people! Next came a lovely lady who would love to talk to me about joining a bridge program that would allow for placements; and even though it is a post-doctoral program, "don't worry about the PhD, we can move forward without it"!. Isn't that two angels in a row or what? As the retweets and likes were coming in, my friend told me that her and her infant son are praying for me, and to come to Canada - also sound advice but then again, COVID-19 != travel plans. 

Then Sarah happened.

In a past life, I worked in global compensation and finance - calculating cost projections, tax payments, cost of living adjustments and allowance, making balance sheets, you name it. A lot of math stuff that was fun but with excel (don't laugh, accounting jobs love it but I made macros!). Anyway at this job, the first person not on my team that ever talked to me was Sarah. She had started six months earlier, the nicest smile you will ever see, and always checked in on me when we ran into each other. Not "how are you, fine" checked-on-me, checked-on-me checked-on-me. I even left her a thank you note when I left that job because she had made that much of an impression on me in my time there.

So here I am, just poured my heart out on LinkedIn and what does this woman do? She re-posts the post and asks her network if they could "check out my friend Sia" for data analyst, data scientist, tech-writer, writer (I have a writing degree and use it always, even published in English-y things but I digress) positions. Sarah and I had not spoken in years, but this woman remembered me and said the kindest things to me as we went back and forth on messages while I cried. Not only does she do this, she sends me to her employer's job site and her email, and tells me to pick positions so she can start floating this resume out like dollar bills in that place we shouldn't be in right now because COVID-19. Ha!

Anyway, miss thing then gets me to another company's site and tells me to go through those jobs and research them because she knows a recruiter there. Now at this point, you might think I am just going off on a random day talking about one-self but why did Sarah remember me and re-post this? And give me all her resources under the sun? She thought I deserved it. She had more to give than I had left to fight with, and she picked me back up with my crying self and just did the thing. Now exit if you don't pray before I continue because...

...I pray that we can all be Sarah to someone. I don't know what it was I did for her, but she is just the best human is my answer - as good as I remember from two years ago. She wasn't on my team at work, not even the same department, not even the same floor! Sarah and I saw each other every other month or so, but the interactions were packed with love and just joyful exchanges. So all of this to say, WOW. And be nice to people. It doesn't cost you anything and you might be saving a life. I don't know if this leads to anything, but it does not matter. Miss Sarah was my third and most charming angel of the day and she gave me perspective in this sinking ship of a year. That Andy Dufresne kind of hope that you have to keep staying alive for.

So for anyone out there struggling with a project, a job application, tech interview prep, waking up in the morning, I am rooting for you and praying for you. If there is anything I can give you, please ask. Hope, a cheer, an edit (did I mention I edited a nationally recognized collegiate journal when I was an undergrad?), let me know. And to all the angels out there, thank you for the advice, the retweets and likes, the kind ear, the loving encouragement, and the infusion of hope that this year is not all lost and that we all deserve nice things. Blessings to you and yours, Sarah and your fellow angels!

With love,
A Shawshank Redemption fan. 
(if you don't know this movie, watch it before you die. You're welcome)