Nick Co

Two interns arrived at WillowTree from Brazil (20) and Ukraine (19), and on their second day in the office, I grabbed lunch with them. We shared the journeys that brought us to that moment. They were uncontainably ecstatic to be there. Overjoyed at the opportunity. They were both students at the innovative Minerva University (fascinating concept) and lived around the globe as part of their curriculum. I learned they were in Cville without transportation, took the bus/and walked to the office all while staying North of Trader Joes. They planned to walk to Community Bikes hoping to buy an affordable ride, but I vetoed that plan and drove them instead.

We ended up at the store and the refurbished bikes were $300 and up, outside of their range. Back into the car, I offered my spare mountain bike and the squad rolled to Walmart to buy a second bike, lock, and an additional part to hold more things on the back, so they could carry groceries. They split the bike, and we schemed how they could return everything at the end of their stint. I dropped them off, picked up my bike, and dropped that off. They invited me to join their simple dinner of mushrooms, rice, cabbage, fish sticks, and lettuce. We learned more about each other. At 19 and 20, they achieved so much, fought for their opportunity, and saw much of the world. Humbling hearing about their lives. Particularly humbling, because they picked this internship because the intern salary was so much more compared to their other options in Brazil.

Wins today:

• Call with the CEO of a small company building a digital product for veterans. I want to join their team, lead the team, and be their eye for design. I felt we meshed well and believe he wants to take the next step. I definitely oversold myself, so i’m going to truly understand “faking it till you make it” (time to start reading more books). I ended the call with “fire me if I suck, but i’m confident you’ll be surprised by the results”.
• Reading chair arrived. Book crushing time.
• Leon Bridge and The War on Drugs tickets for $25