October Check-In: Balancing Work, Burnout, and Joining AltSchool Africa
If you’ve been following this blog before January, you’re probably wondering if someone promised me a big reward in exchange for back-to-back articles.
I’m equally as shocked at my consistency, especially given my history of on-and-off appearances. So the catch is that at the beginning of the year, I made a promise to myself to document my monthly takeaways. Then, in September, my focus shifted towards building a technical writing portfolio.
This is me telling you to always know what you want, work towards it, and watch as the universe supports you.
That being said, roughly three weeks ago, I found Linda Ikechukwu on LinkedIn. Linda has walked the exact path I want to pursue, and the best part? She has a blog and a newsletter where she documents her entire journey, growth, and even shares tips and tricks. This kind of resource feels like a bounty, so forgive me if I talk about her every day! Lol.
Before updating you on my ramp-up plan, as I did last month, let’s talk about my actual office work. While I like my new role, it can get overwhelming to keep track of everything. There are two sides to this, though. On one hand, I blame myself for not being assertive enough in my communication to get what I need. On the other hand, there are human factors that affect my efficiency, and I’m still working on the best ways to manage them.
My work often depends on input from other team leads, so what happens when they’re unresponsive? Should I follow up with calls, visit their desks, or escalate to my manager every time? Tasks that could take me a couple of hours can end up taking days because of this small dependency. It’s incredibly frustrating.
All of this, combined with stress from the economy, self-pressure, and lack of rest, eventually overwhelmed me. So, I requested some time off, and here I am at home, resting.
Now, back to my ramp-up plan.
In October, while following my learning roadmap from MadebyGPS, I dug deeper into Bash scripting in Linux. To add some practicality, I linked my VSCode scripts to GitHub. This meant I was learning both Bash scripting and Git/GitHub at the same time, which I thoroughly enjoyed. I used the “Bash for Beginners” series by Microsoft Developers on YouTube for guidance.
But that’s not all, because I also explored more about technical writing, the role of technical writers, how to break into the field, and how to find paying clients. It’s been an incredibly insightful learning curve.
In this same month, I began reviewing the coursework for my master’s degree, which I enrolled in back in August. I then took my AltSchool entrance assessment and passed!
Drumroll, please!
I’m officially a Cloud Engineering student at AltSchool, and I’m looking forward to 12 months of intensive learning in the cloud domain. Three academic pursuits at once – can I handle it? Bi’ iznillah! (That’s Arabic for “By the will of Allah”).
Lastly, I should mention something heartwarming. I randomly saw an old friend’s snap from Makkah, so I sent a message asking to be remembered in their prayers. The response caught me off guard – ‘I prayed for you yesterday at raudah, and I’ll pray for you again’. That was probably the highlight of my month. Wholesome and uplifting.
That should be all for October. Thanks for reading my Newsletter (as it has become, lol) and please follow me on Twitter!
