Aly's Growing Up: My First Blog Post

A teen no longer...

If you are reading this, that means I've decided to put pen to paper and write my thoughts; I am glad you're here 😄. Please be warned this blog is not anything formal; in fact, please treat it as a conversation between you and me. In the following few paragraphs, you'll find some updates on my life, things many of you know or might not have known, a progress report on how things are going, and some really exciting news. I titled this blog post 'Aly's Growing Up' to commemorate my last few weeks/days (depending on when you're reading this), being 19, come November 25, 2022, I won't be a teen ever again. Not to be dramatic or anything, but damn, where did the time go? Anyway, I hope you enjoy reading and catching up with me.

College Life 🏫

As you all know, I am attending Occidental College in Los Angeles, California. I am currently a sophomore in my 3rd semester (about to start the 4th in a few months). Ever since I committed to this school, I think I've heard asked the same comment plus or minus a couple words: "Oh wow, that's so far from home," or "Wow, you're gonna be far away" "Are you excited to be on the other side of the country?", "Do you think you'll like it ?" The list goes on and on, and I get it people are curious; that's typical human nature, but being that I am a sophomore now, I can answer this question with more experience. I love it here; the distance is not an issue, especially when I call my mom at least 3 times a day (sometimes more). Yay, some days are harder than others, especially when it comes to 6 am practice and then 3 classes in a row, but that's college life. I signed up for this, and in about two years and change, I'll have a degree to show for it.

Here at Oxy, which we call Occidental for short, all first-year students come in as undecided and not pressured to choose a path right away, meaning we only declare a major later in our sophomore year. Well, as you know, I'm unique and already knew what path I wanted to take before I was required to choose one. I officially declared as a computer science major last year in the spring semester of my first year.

Before you compliment me on my intelligence to pick such a complex major, trust me, I know, and all I can say is that while I do love it, I love problem-solving and learning new technologies and programming languages; I must say this is not for the weak. As I start taking upper-division courses, I know it will only get more demanding, but I am prepared and well-equipped to handle those challenges. If there's one thing about me, you know I love challenging myself. I mean, heck, I was on the Dean's List twice for the fall and spring semesters with a 4.0 GPA, and I am on track to do that again this year. The only person stopping me is me.

Basketball 🏀

Go Tigers! That's what you all should be cheering for from the couch when you watch my games. If you're confused about where to find said games, I have made it so convenient by providing you with the game schedule in this link (game schedule). **If the text is underlined, it means that there is a link that will take you to another page.

Now I know it is not feasible for you to watch every game, so I'll fill you in on what's been happening in the background. Last season my team went 3–13 in the league, now if you're not a basketball or sports person, you may be wondering (what the heck does that mean) well, I'll sum it up in 3 words: we were terrible. Yes, you can laugh because, in retrospect, it is comical that we had so much skill and talent between us 15 players but couldn't win some close games.

Nonetheless, this season is different, it's different in many ways, but most importantly, we are coming with a vengeance; we want to win, we want to be undefeated, and we want to be the number one team in our conference. Our goals are set much higher than last year, and quite frankly, we are putting in some serious work in the gym to achieve them. As I mentioned before, this is challenging. But it's exactly what I signed up for. Three-hour-long practices after a long day of classes or studying, 4 hour-long game days when I have a pile of homework waiting back for me in my dorm. But you know what is easy? Playing with my amazing teammates makes challenging tasks much easier because we do them together.

*Editor's Note: I forgot to mention that I was named Captain (Co-Captain) of the team. Very grateful and excited to be given this opportunity and role, and I am even more ready to grow as a leader and better teammate. Okay, you can now continue reading 😌

Work & Career 💻

Before I say the exciting news, please connect with me on LinkedIn if you have one; I am trying to get to 500 connections before the end of the year. Thank you!

Okay, now back to our regularl scheduled programming: this past year, I have found myself heavily interested in professional development, growing my professional skills, and just being excited about my future career. This past summer, I worked as a Product Management Intern at Trimble; a big part of that was through a close family friend who I will be forever grateful for getting me that incredible opportunity. Now, if you don't know what a Product Management Intern is, here is a helpful link to help you understand.

With that internship, I got my first look at the corporate world, and I absolutely hated it.

It gets a little more complex here, so follow along closely. With my degree, I aspire to be a software engineer. Here is a brief description of the roles and responsibilities of software engineers. And I know that to be at the top of the applicant pool when I graduate, I need to have experience, not only in the classroom but also in the workforce, so for the past few months, I have been diligently applying to close to 50 companies in different industries to be a Software engineering Intern for summer 2023. You may be thinking, wow, that's a way in advance, but no, this is when the top internship roles open (and close).

So, I was preparing for interviews in addition to homework, studying, attending classes, 3-hour practices, and finding time to eat( I always found time, haha). I was sitting through hour-long interviews with a big smile, hoping the person on either side of the computer liked me, if my answers were good enough, or if I had made a mistake on my resume. Again, as I repeatedly said, this was not easy. It helped me figure out how to perfect my resume and create my own website (you can find it here) or by typing alymcgrath.com; I know, that's pretty cool.

Along the way, I got many yes's, and many no's (rejections). Although I doubted myself a lot, I am thrilled to say; actually, I am beyond excited to scream I will be working at Microsoft next summer (2023) as a Software Engineering Intern. Did I expect to get a first-round interview? No. Did I expect to get a second-round interview? Again No. Did I expect to get an offer? Again no. I doubted myself the whole way through but managed to fake it til I made it. Well, I didn't fake it because I put in the hard work and late nights when preparing for these interviews. But I was definitely nervous a majority of the way through. Anyway, this opportunity is something I would have only dreamt of, and it is all coming true. I genuinely believe anything I manifest will come to fruition, and I hope the same for you too.

Closing Statements - Boyfriends? Friends? ✍🏾

I will keep it as short as my time spent cleaning bathrooms (minimal). I do not have a boyfriend or anything close to one, I am surrounded by nerdy computer science boys, but I see no future prospects there. Also, my friends are all on my team, and the few ones I've made from seeing them in my dorm hall. My roommate is the best and one of my closest friends as well. I could get more into that in the next blog post I write.

Again, I appreciate you taking the time to read this and catch up with me. I miss you and love you all so much!

Email me anytime to offer feedback, ask questions, or just say hello 👋.