Leon,
Thank you for meeting with the team yesterday and for your thorough explanation of many issues facing both our team and Teaching Strategies. I also wanted to thank you for extending the offer to continue the conversation as a 1:1.
Now 51 years old with a career in IT spanning back to working as an Electrical Engineering Intern (who oddly focused on AutoCAD 10 and VAX/VMS) in 1990, I’ve worked in all sectors from military service, cleared government contracting, large corporations, consulting, government agencies, and now the rise of an Early Childhood Education company from a small business to mid-sized corporation.
Having previously worked as a Senior and later Principal Engineer at government agencies, Comcast and NOAA, I am familiar with longer hours and higher-stress environments. I honestly don’t believe Teaching Strategies to be as grueling or high-stress as a Secure Compartmentalized Information Facility (SCIF) or a large corporation.
Due to my cancer diagnosis in 2018, three years of treatment, and the lingering effects of chemo suppression and radiation, I stepped back from working with the caliber and temperament of a Principal Engineer. In joining Teaching Strategies, I worked for over two years in a reduced capacity at 32 hours/week (with a commensurate drop in salary to reflect 80% rather than 100% of the offered salary). I am sure you recall our previous ADA agreement between you, May, Jonathan, Peter, and Bill. I am grateful to you and Teaching Strategies for allowing me to work while also focusing on my health and continued recovery from Stage 4 Mantle Cell Lymphoma.
With my improving health and personal desire to “do more, be better” in my career, I ended my ADA request over a year ago and returned to full-time employment. I was hoping over the past year, through demonstrable improvement in the quantity and quality of my work, that I would be an asset and of service to Teaching Strategies. I also wanted to continue in my career with the goal of working at the caliber and title of Principal Engineer or Technical Team Lead.
In light of yesterday’s conversations, I’m not sure what external benchmarks exist for me to measure myself against or what self-improvement opportunities exist to allow me to continue and advance in my career. I gave it a large amount of thought and discussed it with my wife.
- I will return to the University of Maryland this semester to complete my Master of Science Degree in either Computer Science or Information Systems.
- I will take full advantage of Teaching Strategies’ generous offers of learning opportunities and training, such as LinkedIn Learning.
- I will earnestly and diligently strive to become the best possible Site Reliability Engineer I can be, either with the resources provided or actively seeking out resources with which to better myself.
- I will attempt to prove the quality and quantity of my work to Teaching Strategies.
As always, my thanks, Leon. Today’s skip-level is no longer necessary. I will focus solely on my education and my continued betterment as a Site Reliability Engineer.
Thanks,
Ken Foreman