# Module 2 Professional Development:

##  Written reflection:

In many ways, I think agile development processes are instilled into us from day 1 at Turing. We do often receive a project spec in the beginning, but it wasn't overly constraining. During the CS courses I took in college, we had a traditional waterfall structure to our projects. We were given an incredibly in-depth, nearly step by step, guide to the project in pseudo code along with charts documenting the relations between objects. While this sounds like it would be easier to implement, it actually inhibits creativity and speed as you force your brain around the structure of the solution expected of you. As in Jeff's example of the junior developer getting the short end of the stick because we were somehow lesser, that's how this format felt. We couldn't be trusted to come up with our own appraoch.

In mod2, I think dividing and conquering the project was a key portion of myself and my pairing partner's agile development process. We often built the base structure together, but just enough to get it working (red, green, refactor) and then moved onto individual components. This allowed us to effectively double our production capacity, as there was full trust in both members of the party to develop a workable solution. In short, we got it working. Then, we made it better.

In the future, I want to expand upon these practices. As all of us grow as developers, I think it is important we get thrown in the deep end occasionally. The ability to build out a complex aspect of an application on your own, then come back with your partner and make it even better, is an incredible experience.

In my projects, I felt I often took the navigator role. I have a fairly robust conceptual understanding of most of our frameworks, and utilized my strengths of input, restorative, and relator to develop a strong relationship with my partners focused around solving the problem and developing their own knowledge through my need to store and impart information.

## Feedback II reflection:

* Date of feedback conversation:
12/7/17

* How did you prepare for the conversation?
Amy and I had already together before and developed a very strong working relationship. So, we just sat down immediately after our eval and discussed said relationship and each individual's contributions.

* How did the conversation go for you? What was easy about the conversation? What was more difficult?
This conversation was, I felt, as easy as such a conversation can be. We were respectful, appreciative, and both received the crucial constructive feedback we were in search of. As we had that previous working experience, I think we were so deep into norming and performing that this part was easy for us.

* What principles of feedback did you use in the conversation?
We used appreciation, coaching, and even a bit of evaluation becauase of our prior experience working together.

* Any other comments:
N/A

* Group Names: Amy Russell and Jordan Quinn

## Working draft of professional story (1-2 paragraphs)

I've always loved being a resource for others. Collecting and processing information in a way that allows me to break high level thinking down into consumable chunks for those around me. Being a leader in someone's development then comes as a natural extension of my propensity to collect information as a resource. After years of developing my own prowess in fitness, I turned that knowledge into a resource, working with dozens of clients to shed several hundred pounds. One client in paticular was able to take the road map that I provided him and lose over 100lbs na  year.

However, there a came a point of stagnation in my a bility to grow as an individual and in terms of knowledge. this led me to pursue a career as a BMW Client Advisor, again utilizing the aforementioned propensity to lead and guide through information in order to assist people making the 2nd largest purchase, besides their home, they would ever make. This afforded me the opportunity to excel in a new field, and I earned sales MVP over 38 other veteran advisors in my first month on the job. Throughout both of these chapters, I led another life as a competitive bodybuilder. This allowed me to apply my own knowledge towards betting myself, but also come to love and respect the process behind any end result. This knowledge and love for the process led to me earning one of the most prestigious regional titles in the country: Mr. Rocky Mountain.

My turning point came when, in the span of three weeks, my now fiance's mother passed away, folowed by myself nearly passing from a heart infection. I needed to break into an industry that afforded the balance I would need to care for myself and for her, while continually expanding my own knowledge in a process driven, problem solving environment. Beyond that, I refused to be beaten down by this. I was going to come back better. Enter software engineering. I knew there was no other field expanding at a more rapid rate, and few other fields that were more process driven or full of opportunities to coach others towards an end solution. As I dove head first into this field, I discovered one thing rose above all of this: a passion for development.

This lead me to my time at Turing, where I harnessed this passion to propel myself to an entirely new level of skill and belief. Turing created the perfect vessel for my strengths to be emulated, and tested. Working with and assisting others, expanding my knowledge, and loving the process required to grow.

## Plan for outreach & networking as you go into Module 3

Meetups/Networking Events: Identify 1 meetup and/or other networking event that you'll attend between now and the end of Module 3. Answer these questions:

Denver ReactJS

* Why will you attend this particular event?

Because I plan on pursuing a career as a React or React native developer/consultant, and this will afford me the opportunity to create the relationships needed to develop int his way.

* Who do you hope to connect with at this event?

My mentor is a consultant at a leading firm, and has given me a list of other companies with similar endeavors. It is my goal to find one person from each of these companies (or any other consultancy), so as to best set myself up for this role.

* How will you follow-up with the people you connect at this event?

With a specific and professional e-mail, remarking on something we discussed and thanking them for the time to discuss React and their professional experiences.

* Warm Outreach: Identify a mentor, alum, or someone else in the Turing community you will reach out to by the end of Module 3. If * * you have someone you'd like to reach out to outside of the Turing community, go for it! Describe:

My highschool english teacher, who is now a full-time consultant head hunter

* Why you want to connect with this person and what you hope to talk about

As mentioned above, I dream of getting into consulting. She is a warm connecton that has expansive knowledge in regards to what is required to set yourself apart in this industry, and what can be done to network. I don't plan on asking her for any direct help towards employment, but rather just seeking knowledge and advice on how to make myself a stronger candidate.

* When you will contact them by and how you plan to meet

I sent my warm outreach message over linkedin yesterday, and am anticipating her response. She is out in Chicago, so I believe we will meet over screenhero or a phone call.

* What your follow-up will look like once you've met with them

As mentioned above, a warm and professional e-mail thanking her for her time, expertise, and following up with a request for another meeting.