my interview was scheduled at 3pm, so the entire morning was filled with dread dand anxiety. i took a meeting with my school at 11 a.m. for 30 minutes, and the rest of the time was filled up by more practices, and cramming the questions on the platform.

my heart was pounding so much again i felt like i could taste my heart. i tried so hard to calm down. i did not like this feeling.

the actual interview started out on a good note, we both had the same background. the first sql question, i joined two tables when i didn't have to. i already lost my confidence. the second question, i started with a CTE, and i got stuck. i was told to not do a CTE, and after taking way too long to come up with a solution, i solved it. the third question came in with just 5 minutes left for the 25 minute session. at that point i lost the will to do the interview. we switched to python, and i had to take a deep breath to gather my emotions, knowing that i've already failed at this point. since i ran out of time for sql, i switched strategy. i decided to spend less time on the thought process, but that backfired when i missed an obvious edge case. then the second question came and i got stuck again. then the third question came and i ran out of time again. i spent the last 5 minutes asking what working at meta is like, transitioning from healthcare, and what he thinks of zuck.

this was good practice. i now know what it takes to pass a big tech interivew. i'm still figuring out what's worth sacrificing and what isn't. what God wants for me and what i personally want for myself. every action i make leads me an inch closer to heaven or hell.