Month: June 2016

An open letter to my son on the eve of starting his first summer internship

IMG_1086Well, Justin, high school graduation is behind you, you’ve landed in San Jose, and tomorrow morning you’ll wake up in Mountain View to start your internship at Mozilla, your first real world, paying job that’s aligned with your career goals.

I am so proud of you for all that you’ve accomplished and I know you’re going to have a great summer. But I have this fatherly need to impart wisdom, and I couldn’t fit it all in at the airport drop-off this morning, so I’m putting it here and linking to it from Twitter where you’ll be more likely to read and absorb it…

1. Don’t stand around with your hands in your pockets.

In every business there is always work that needs to be done. Don’t literally or figuratively just stand there doing nothing. Jump in and contribute value.

2. There is something to learn in even seemingly crappy tasks.

Every project has less desirable tasks and someone’s got to do them. If that’s you, don’t get discouraged. Take the grunt tasks on with a smile, knock them out quickly with quality, and find a lesson those tasks offer. Learning something new makes any task worth it.

3. Learn something new every day.

Speaking of learning, try to learn something new, no matter how small, every day. Actually, this applies to the rest of your life, not just your work life. If you get to the end of the day and you can’t answer, “What did I learn today?” that’s a day wasted, and it’s on you to fix.

4. Be confident, but practice gratitude and humility.

You’ve contributed countless hours to Mozilla, you’ve honed your skills, and you’ve successfully navigated the vetting process. So be confident that you’ve earned the right to be there. But something to reflect on daily, maybe as you walk to work in that gorgeous northern California weather, is how fortunate you are to have this day, this opportunity, in this place, and what you will do now to capitalize on it.

5. Have fun. Live in the moment.

This summer is going to fly by. And you’ll have your whole life to work. So my biggest piece of advice is to have fun, try new things, and to savor every single moment. Seriously, it sounds easy but it is so hard to do. When you are with your friends, standing on that hill overlooking the Golden Gate Bridge, I hope you’ll pause, take a few breaths, and really just soak it up.

So there you go. Hopefully, I’ve been working these in to your brain over the last 18 years so maybe it didn’t need to be said, but thanks for letting me say it anyway.

Oh damn, I almost forgot: Dress in layers, Facetime your Mom, Snapchat your sister, keep your wallet in your front pocket on public transit, if you’re on-time you’re late, be discreet and watchful at ATMs, always wear a helmet, be a thoughtful and considerate roommate, and stay away from the Tenderloin.