This week was hectic with interviews and applications, but I’m proud that I took an intentional step outside my comfort zone. I reached out to a university friend who now works at Shopee as an SRE, which is a role closely aligned with mine. Actually I’ve been thinking for a long time about inviting her for a talk, but since we hadn’t talked in years and weren’t very close back then, I had always hesitated out of fear it might feel awkward. But this time, I decided to just go for it.
To my surprise, she responded warmly and immediately agreed to meet for lunch. Our conversation flowed easily, I ended up getting her referral, and more imporantly, learned a lot from her experiences and reflections. Now I have already passed the first round of interview and feel more confident about my next moves.
This experience reminded me that meaningful progress often starts with a small act of courage. Making the first move might feel scary, but the outcomes can be unexpectedly positive.