The weeks are starting to compound now, and this group project was an absolute blast. My partner came up to visit for the entire week, and between that and the team I worked with, the atmosphere around me shifted in a really positive way. The habits I’ve been building — sleeping better, eating regularly, creating structure — are starting to compound, and I can feel myself getting noticeably sharper every day.
This week reminded me why I enjoy working with people. There’s something really satisfying about building together. It brought out a better version of me. I wanted to show up for the team and contribute, and that made it easy to work through any negative feelings.
We hit plenty of small challenges, but they never stayed problems for long.
Early on, I tried to pay attention to how everyone worked best. Maddie picks things up fast and loves to push herself. She came in stronger on the frontend but wanted to focus on her backend skills. With Aarti, it took a little longer for us to find our rhythm, but once we did, she brought a calm focus that really grounded the group, not to mention some amazing ideas and functionality that really brought the game to life.
I didn’t want to “lead” in the traditional sense. I just wanted to make sure everyone’s voice stayed in the mix. When we hit uncertainty, I’d try to open things up for conversation rather than forcing a direction. That made it easier for everyone to take shared ownership. By midweek, we had a nice balance going and we could move fast without anyone feeling unheard.
I'm really proud of everyone, both in the game we made and relationships we formed along the way.
Maddie and Aarti if you read this, love you both. Really glad I met you guys.