An LA “4”, SF “6 ½”, and Haskell Maybe.
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🚧 ravi.fyi (…soon!)
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You’re likely here because you’ve managed to ferret out my Learning Sabbatical 2022-2024 from the depths of the World Wide Web.
Hopefully, it’s comprehensible! It started simply as a “bucket list” of things I’d been meaning to noodle on, but it looks like it’s turned into the repo-cum-journal of this journey.
I would be remiss if I didn’t mention Chris Quintero and DJ DiDonna, whose stories emboldened me to take the leap (and consequently, become a more attentive steward of my checking account).
Well, just mine 😅. ‘Circuitous’ is the word that comes to mind in this moment, but maybe a more charitable (read: marketable) interpretation is reflected in the lede of my LinkedIn profile:
Slakes chronic curiosity by blending information of all flavors to produce crisp insights, smoothly articulated. Palate refined by swigs of buy-side finance, tech startups, and social enterprises + non-profits. Favors extended metaphors over heavy pours. :)
Ignoring the insufferable bits, there is a kernel of truth there: if something piques my curiosity, I often find myself compelled to go deep. Like pivot-my-entire-career deep. I [finally] feel like there’s a solid seal between 1) what scratches my intellectual itch (namely, problem solving) and 2) a corpus of knowledge and skills tractable enough for me to acquire on my own at my own pace (especially this second point; it was the impetus to quit my job and embark on this learning sojourn). And I can’t even begin to describe how exciting that is! I’m having the best time of my life waking up each day and diving headlong into the things that tickle my 🧠.
TBD! I’ll likely be jumping back into the job market in early 2024 with an eye towards more SWE-oriented roles (as opposed to pure data roles).
More to come on this as I do some 🐨🍵 thunking on what’s next for me. (Do drop me a line if there’s anything interesting coming across your desk!)
If learning motivates me beyond anything else, teaching is a close second, having done it in some form or fashion over the past couple of decades. Per the former, I have benefitted immensely from the generosity of countless others across a host of communities, both IRL and virtually. In the twilight of my career, I’d like to devote myself entirely to the latter enterprise (like Mom! 👩👦), but for now, perhaps, this site can serve as a model for other autodidacts? I wouldn’t be mad about that outcome.
As someone who’s only been doing [what business folk call] “something technical” for 3-ish years, I, by no means, have a monopoly on anything I’m teaching…but I enjoy pushing the boundary of my small Circle of Competence and [hopefully] those of others in a way that is accessible and approachable.
Most recently, I’ve been with Cambridge Coaching, but I also founded the Learning & Development initiative for Flexport’s Data Team, flavors of which can be sampled here and here, respectively. (I’ve also tutored pro bono, which I plan on picking back up after my sabbatical!)
Wantonly taking a page from Rob Heaton’s book blog: I’d love to connect if that’s of any interest! Not sure I have quite the same ethos / standing as an Oxford graduate, consummate family man, and established professional with copious experience…but [just] maybe, there’s an interesting conversation to be had?