I'll Start With Why

I've been in Poland for over a month now...

…but it still feels like I flew in just yesterday. That’s the best kind of feeling. As someone who loves learning (and Poland) moving here has really been a treasure for me. Everything – from talking to the cashier at the grocery store, to reading an ad on the street, to walking down Aleja Jana Pawła on my way to school – is new and exciting. But I realize those things are probably a little less exciting for you all to read about, so I’ll save those thrillers for another time. Instead, since a few of you have asked, I figured I’d share a little more of the “why” behind the what. 

Something you might not get from photos or Facebook:

• For some, it’s a difficult decision to leave a job, (for some it’s an even more difficult decision to stay) but in the end, I truly believe it’s a combination of being proactive and patient that pays off. I truly value my time at my previous company, APT. You only get one first job, and I couldn’t be more grateful for the people I could share that experience with. However, as an engineer at heart, I had long itched for something a little more technical, than my previous position.
• Over the past few years, I have been working on data visualization development on and off – in visualization, as in life, I really enjoy the challenge of seeing things from a different, simpler perspective.
• In the hopes of transforming a bit more of the frustration I felt when programming into fun, I decided it was time to learn the fundamentals. A coding bootcamp – a way to “test & learn” whether a 9-5 programming lifestyle was right for me – presented a compelling option.
• And while I was in the spirit of trialing a different career path, my mind immediately went to something else I’ve always been talking about trialing: life in Poland
• When I was accepted to Coders Lab in Warsaw, it was a clear decision: intensive coding bootcamp in all the languages I was looking for: HTML, CSS, JavaScript, and Polish. To top it all off, my ever-inspiring, 94-year-old Uncle Wujek offered for me to live with him. A 20 minute walk from school. The stars aligned.

And now that you have the full context, here's a little content:

In order to keep myself accountable to share this adventure with you all, and to test some of my skills from the first four weeks of the coding bootcamp, I decided to start a blog, ‘Fine Untitled.’ I’m thrilled that:

1. I was able to put something together (don’t be too impressed, a lot of coding is drawing from the work of others)

2. It’s no longer empty (this update = my first ever post!)

If I get it to work right, I’m planning on sending future updates every month or so through the blog, but if they ever get annoying, feel free to unsubscribe. Having worked in Marketing for the past year and a half, I know what email mailboxes can look like these days.. 

But to entice you all to not do that (at least not yet), here's a quick preview of what I'd really love to share with you:

• Lessons from my 94-year-old roommate
• A little bit about my first night in Poland
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• What coding can teach us about good communication
• Little moments of bravery
• A year of no counting (my New Year’s resolution)
• Why title something ‘Fine Untitled’ (the previous name of this blog)?
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And lastly and most importantly...

It really means a lot to me that you all wanted to stay updated on the latest on my end. Please do let me know how you’re doing every so often as well! I’ll always be glad to hear.

Najserdeczniejsze pozdrowienia i do usłyszenia (aka best wishes),

Monica