My first week at CenterCentre ended with a bang! I learned an incredible amount in five days and I’m still reeling from being given this opportunity.
CenterCentre is a unique company which is part school for UX (user experience) designer sand part UX training for companies and individuals. There are several products to keep track of, but the majority of them are built around training provided by the co-ceos, Jared Spool and Dr. Leslie Jensen-Inman. I get to work closely with both of them, as well as, a great team of long-term employees and other fellows, both marketing and dev.
Several things happened this week that are notable. First, our Dev Team lead announced he would be leaving in the next couple of weeks. During out interviews, I discovered that he immigrated from Bosnia and Herzegovina just like me! Our circumstances were vastly different, but it felt wonderful to meet someone in this field that I could talk to about cultural experiences. He is a wonderful teacher and an incredible manager, and I’m blessed that I get to work with him for any amount of time. He suggested a great article about documenting this experience written by a previous employee. I will write more on this in a future post.
Before being hired, during my interviews, I noticed that there were many, many applications, tools, and languages discussed. I prepared myself mentally for what that would look like, but I was still astonished by the sheer amount of resources I would be keeping track of and utilizing. Some of the tools are familiar, like WordPress and Gmail, while others are a labyrinth of new experiences.
As a person that tends to be incredibly organized, this fellowship is definitely testing my skills. My desk is covered in sticky notes and note pads, so I was delighted to discover that my iPhone and iPad’s new IOS updated included an app called Freeform. I began using this app to organize my notes and group them together based on my own system. I ordered a stylus to also draw connections and write quick notes directly into the app.
As time progresses, I hope to continue writing about this experience. I believe I’m going to learn a great deal from this fellowship, as well as, the people I get to work with. My Senior Fellow has been an absolute beast at teaching my everything I need to know while simultaneously teaching me to be a better developer. His advice is on point and I’m impressed by his articulation and professionalism. I’m really excited to be a part of this amazing team and I can’t wait to see what next week has in store for me.
Tina Collier 