Farewell, Google

Today is my last day at Google after over six years.

My time at Google was largely positive- I got to work with some folks that are just genuinely fantastic people, not just engineers. There are people I met at Google that I will never forget. I experienced a new city, new friends, incredible communities, and even had the space to figure out who I really am. Google gave me a ton of time and support to contribute to open source. I got to spend so much of that time with the wonderful Python community. I grew as an engineer and as a person so much. It was, in many ways, my dream job.

Google also was a turning point in my life financially. I grew up dirt poor in rural Georgia. Feeling any sort of financial security for the first time in my life was bizarre and indescribable. Google also gave me access to mental health resources for the first time in my life, and without that, I would not be here today.

But, Google is not perfect. During my last few months, I felt that my manager alienated me from my team and I was unable to transfer to another because I live in Atlanta. Making the decision to leave was not an easy one- giving up my income, healthcare, and access to resources was hard- but in the end, I felt that Google made it my only choice.

For the longest time I felt like I was a failure for not being able to stick it out.

But I know that this is what's best for me. Leaving Google will allow me to stay in Atlanta near my friends and family. It will give me the space to recover from extreme burnout. I will get to spend time on things that more closely match my personal values.

I am not going to another tech company. I'm going to rest and spend time with people that I love. I'm also going to spend some time seeing where Winterbloom goes. I'll give myself the space and time to think about the future next year- for now, I can just be.

✨