Big (Blue) Life Changes
Posted by Skrud at Friday, November 23rd 2007 at 8:00pm
This past summer was undoubtedly the most intriguing, influential and fun period of my life I’ve ever had. Looking through my archive of pictures in iPhoto include trips to the Biodome, the Imagine Cup experience, no less than two trips to New York City, and dozens if not hundreds parties. At the centre of it all is the internship I held for four months at IBM. I had a blast working there, I got to meet some incredibly smart and interesting people, and I learned more about opportunities out there than I thought. I could write pages upon pages about my experience as an Extreme Blue technical intern – but I’d rather talk about it person. Instead, I’ll tell you how this summer changed me completely.
I’m moving to Ottawa
The biggest surprise of the summer came to me during my first week of school. I got a call from IBM offering me a full time job, starting July 2008, in the Garbage Collection team for their Java Virtual Machine. I remember showing up to my interview, barely having had time to read through a research paper on “Uniprocessor Garbage Collection Techniques” and wearing jeans and a t-shirt that read “I’m in it for the π”. They asked me tons of questions on C programming – which I live, eat, sleep and breathe. It was a long interview, about two and a half hours! But I got the job, and as of July 2008, I’ll be moving away from my beloved Montreal.
I can’t even begin to describe how intimidating it is for me to be leaving, and it’s something that’s been consuming my thoughts since September. Naturally, I should be nervous… and I still have quite a few months to psyche myself up for it. But it’s going to be a huge change. On the one hand, I’m relieved that I don’t have to spend the next 8+ months looking for a job. I understand that I’m extremely lucky – but I feel like I replaced one burden with another: the anxiety of leaving!
I know I shouldn’t be too worried about moving to Ottawa. First of all, it’s not at all that far from Montreal. It’s relatively cheap and easy to get back here for the weekends and see all my friends. I already have some great friends in Ottawa, so I won’t be starting completely from scratch at building a new social network. Ottawa also has a great collection of pubs, despite its small size. And I also know that I won’t lose my current friends, or my team. I know that I have the best set of friends and that a mere two-hour drive isn’t going to get between them and me. So why, then, am I still so anxious?
At the heart of the matter, I suspect, is the fact that I’ll be leaving school. Concordia has been a wonderful place for me. I’ve learned so much, and made such close connections with so many people. I’ve gotten involved with a number of student associations, like ECA, and I’ve given up countless hours volunteering for all kinds of events. The student community in Engineering at Concordia is a fabulous one, and it pains me to have to say goodbye to it and I know that when the time comes, it won’t be easy.
I’m worried that I’ll be forgotten. These days, I can walk through the Hall building and run into tons of people whom I know, that say “Hi!” and smile as I walk past, and it makes me feel good to be recognized. I suppose that’s what happens after spending close to five years meandering through the same corridors. I know that once I’m gone, life at Concordia is going to continue to move along and move forward, and that it’ll do so without me – and that’s what bothers me. I’ve been personally involved in so many things here, I’ve had a hand in organizing so many conferences, trips, activities, and parties that it will feel weird to me to see those same things happening without me. Maybe I’m just being selfish.
Everything that’s going on now is the current stage of a chain of events that started way back during the CUSEC 2007 conference. The catalyst was Dominique, and the impact that she has had on my life in the past year is profound. She convinced me (and she actually did have to twist my arm a bit) to apply to the Extreme Blue program in the first place. At the time I thought it was just going to be a summer job, but look at what came out of it! When I was working at IBM this summer, Dominique was the supervisor for both Extreme Blue teams in Montreal (and she was great to work with!). And when she found out that OOPSLA was coming to Montreal, it was Dominique who told me about it and mentioned the Student Volunteer program, without which I never would have gone. I’ve really got to find a way to thank her properly. I don’t think a mention on my blog counts for nearly enough!
