Reflections on My Journey as a Data Engineer

I got lucky. 

Lucky in the sense that I’ve had the chance to work with some really clever people throughout my career. Not only smart or technically savvy, but good, honest, and hardworking people. 

This rubbed off on me big time. 

There have been a few bad apples, don’t get me wrong. No escaping that, unfortunately. I’ve learned from them, as should you. If I had to step back with a wide-angle lens on my career, I’ve been lucky to have so many good people cross my path.

I’ve watched. I’ve listened. I’ve learned. I’ve been inspired.

Some lessons were easy to pick up, you know, basic things like always take backups and actually test them. Others were hard to learn and hard to swallow at times.

The biggest lesson by far is that it’s all on you. Nobody else. 

It’s your career, no one else’s, and you call the shots. Once you can get square with that fact, you can get to work.