本字幕由TME AI技术生成
You know somethe biggest st decions ons life
They're not really the ones
You actively make are they right
They're more things
Things just well happhappened
You exactly these are unexpected currents
That somehow you know steer your shift somewhere totally different absolutely
It's easy to look back and think
Oh
It was a straight line
But often yeah
The biggest turns came from somewhere else entirely outside the plan
And that i did that's really the heart of the deep diver were doing
Today we've been into this interwer with a software engineer er she's based in boston um
And she takes us through her whole career journey
What's really fascinating
I think is how much she points to these key moments as uh
Which calls passive decisisions
Yeah
It's a great phrase
So we're pulling out the really insightful bits from her story you how she navigated different engineering fields the um
The real struggle she faced in university right and yeah as crucial passive decisions that kind of shaped where she ended up
So our mission here really is to understand her unique path from high school back in shanghai through university
Venommasters in the us right up to her current suffer a job
Yeah
And by sort of stepping into her experience
We hope you the listener might find some surprising connections
Maybe some insights into your own jneneor or the the ths of people you know definitely okay
So it's divin
Let's do it okay
Setting the scene high school shine hining class of two thousand and six uh focus on science subjects
What really struck me was her take on high school life there
Oh Yeah
How so well shessort compared to what she thought high schools were like elsewhere
Maybe you know less intense right
She mentioned things
Maybe weekends usually finishing school around six pm it wasn't the around o'clock pressure cocker
Maybe some imagine exactly and her study habis
She just called it normal like not killing yerself just doing what needed to be done
But even then there's a bit of friction wasn't there
Yeah a little bit
She mentioned you know clashing the teacher
Sometimes then pushing her to focus on weaker subjects or telling her her to skip sleep to finish homework okay
So even in that qute quote normal environment
The pressure could still pop up
Definitely it shows it was still there
So she finishes high school
Doing her thing aiming ing for something specific actually
And then amam the first big unexpected turn the college entrance exam
This is where that first passive decision really kicks in the system back
Then in shanghai was called three plus one so course subjects plus one specialty
And she chose biology specifically
Because her dream was marine biology
She really wanted to research animals
Marine biology oookay
That's
That's a long way from software engineering isn't it just
But yeah
She didn't get into first choice progragram was the pipit uh
So what happened well after the exam results came out
Instead of getting marine biology
She was basically assigned the word in chinese ygg to an engineering college designed okay
And importantly it wasn't in shanghai
It was outside the city
This was two thousand
Seven and looking back
She says very clearly that assignment was a passive decision
Wow
And she gets there and his consurprise right thinking
Maybe she's done with all the intense math and physics
Totally she thought okay engineering
Maybe it's different but no still had to tackle advanced math physics
All that stuff so wasn't the clean break
She might have been expecting not at all
It just shows what a curve bullet was you know aiming for animals ends up in engineering
Still needing those core science skills
She might have hope to leave behind so okay she's in engineering university
She didn't choose outside her hometown
What exactly was she stustuying he
It was kind of a mix
Yeah
Her major it was related to mechanical engineering
But it was pretty broad
It touched on e electrical engineering okay i mean mechanical
And did she computer engineering right and initially
She felt more drawn to the mechanical side
Yeah
She did she linked to like manual skill
She thought she had being good with her hands that kind of thing
But the interest that eventually you know became her career computer engineering cap came from different angle bmit
Exactly it actually sparked from the electrical engineering part
She found that for her ee projects
She just
She needed to program um h ok like a practical necessity pretty much
She gave this example of building a little car
You could wired it all up sure
But to make it move immeet cocode needed code and having to do that programming for the ee stuff
That was her first real taste of the ce side
And it just clicked
You know it started to capture her interest
It wasn't her first strength
But that's where the curiosity started to build interesting
How that happens
But university wasn't just about discovering programming was it she moved away from shanghai
Yeah
And that whole transition she described as not particularly pleasant at first um that's a mild mayybe well yeah moving from shanghai
Which she knew to a totally new city
A different university vipe different kinds of people
She found it well a bit overwhelming initially
And she feels that initial adjustment may be feeling a bit lost it impacted her focus yeah especially early on
Oh
Significantly looking back
Now she really regrets
How much time she poured into um social stuff and clubs in those first couple of years
Things that seemed important
Then maybe exactly
But now she calls them seemingly meaningless things harsh maybe
But it's because they took time away from her studies right in that lack of academic focus meant her gpa wasn't great early on yeah was lower
And she really kicked herself forit later especially by her third year she realized the impact
And this is where one of her big lessons comes from an absolutely this is huge for her
She firmly believes based on that tothics experithat that look great
If you can do it all social life clubs and hit the books hard hard
But if you have to choose
If you have to choose studying has to be the first priority especially during those dedicated university too it's such a strong point
And it comes straight from her own feeling of getting that balance wrong
That's good yeah
That's a lesson
A lot of people could brorely relate or
Or learn okay
So after university another big shift happens yeah
And again she calls this one a passive decision
Yeah
This time it was about pursuing a masters degree
And specifically going abroad to do it okay
How did that come about she pretty much credits her mother with this one
Her mom really encouraged
Her wanted
Her to get that international experience
You know that idea of building oneself
The u sic gen adding that layer of prestige
Oh
Right so that push letter to the u ss coast for graass school
Exactly
So we've got the assign engineering major
Then the parental nudge for the masters abroad
我的对的
Two huge shifts
She didn't really initiate herself pretty much
But when she actually got to the us
It does sound like she started taking a bit more active control
Okay
How so well for where she found
She really like the environment there the the lifestyle and a big reason
She wanted to stay with this feeling
She got that in the us
There was a clear connection between putting in the effort and actually getting the desired results
Hm
That sense of agency
Maybe that hard work pays off more directly
Yeah
That seems to really resonate with her matter wanto stick around
And her choice of what to study for her masters
That seems more active too definitely
She chose computer engineering ce for her masters
So while the decision to go abroad was maybe passive
The specific field was more deliberate
This time
Yce specifically she noticed that at that time
Anyway the us east coast
Where she was seemed to have stronger faculty and resources and software compared to hardware
Ah h kay
So she was looking at the landscape
Where the strength were exactly
She actively chose her specialization based on where the opportunities and the um
The academic muscle seem to be that make sense
So that choice sets her firmly on the software path wwes her first job like after the masters
Her first gig was at a small company
And she talks about that time really family actually is said the environment
The team spirit
It was really positive
Yeah
She felt like everyone was really motivated working towards the same thing use the phrase you gondo like having drive and the work itself was mobile development yep strain to writing abs programming ing from mobile devices
She was there for quite a while actually before making a change during the pandemiokay
Which brings us up to her current job
How are things for her
Now so now she's a software engenginemostly working as an individual contcontribuor
Or she describes her work life as as relatively relaxed around forty hours a week generally less pressure
Than maybe some other corners of the tech world that sounds pretty good
And the company culture seems positive
Too she mentioned her current place really encourages learning let's people siget in all ten different groups and initititives
So a good atmosphere for growth
That sounds like okay
So looking back at this whole journey
It's quite a winding road isn't
It it
It really is that unexpected engineering assignment the tough university start the masters abroad prompted by her mom
Finding her way into software
How does she feel about it all now it's interesting
Because she actually expresses this real sense of um gratitude for those very passive decision
Really even though she didn't choose them
Yeah
Getting put into engineering that nudge to go abroad
嗯
She feels those external pushes kind of accidentally leher to the industry
She's in now
And she genuinely seems to appreciate where she landed
She even used the word lucky
I think she did yeah
There's a feeling of luck playing apart
She was quite open about it
Saying she didn't really do deep research into different industries
Trying to find her ultimate passion early on her approach
She was more reactive pretty much
Choosing as she put it the closest thing that was sort of put in front of her at each stage so definitely not a particuously planned career path um
But she feels fortunate about the outcome right
But as we talked about earlier
There's that one specific lesson from her whole experience
That she feels so strongly about the thing
She wishes her young erself and maybe everyone would prioritize i yes the learning focus absolutely
This seems to be the absolute core take away for her
Her advices just unwavering a prioritize learning above pretty much
Everything else at any age
She think at any stage
Yeah
But critically important
During those dedicated study periods like high school in university and it comstraight ght from her unregret about those first couple years at unit
Her prioritising the social stuff over the books
Exactly she sees that time spent on what she now calls those meaningless things
During those really formative academic years
She sees it as a huge misopportunity
Her mss such is crystal clear
If you've got the energy for everything
Fantastic go for it
But if not
If not studying and learning a has to be job number such such powerful lesson
You know forge and fire of her own hindside her story really is this fascinity mixes
It unexpected turns moments of struggle
These little sparks of inteinterest cachchfirfire
Then this really really clehard hard one ason about focus at the end totally from being passively dropped into engineering fighting through those university challenges another passive move taking her overseas is to then actively choosing her path in software and finding her place
It just highlights
That are path they're not always straight
Lines they're not always fully in our control
Either there's external stuff
Maybe some luck like she said yeah
And the effect ct just choosing the closest thing sometime right
But underneath at all is that really strong reflection
She has on the non negotiable priority just that commitment to learning
Which she really feels guide us
You know at every stage
It really does make you pause and think about your life doesn't n't
Yeah
What were those moments ts you that
That felt less like your choice more like how don't know know a current just pulling you along how did those passive decisions bigger small end up shaping where you are right now
And maybe taking her big lesson to heart in whatever stage
Your in right now
What really is the first priority
The thing you should be focusing on
You know the above all the noise didistractions
Seemingly meaningless things
Yeah
Definitely something is shoe on something to carry with you after listening
Absolutely well
Thank you for exploring this journey with us today
Yeah
Thanks for joining this deep dive
