It’s been a while since I have written a post and unfortunately, there is just too much to cover a short amount of time. My passion for mobile development has shifted to web application development. My focus has been given to commerce at Microsoft for some time and then for the past two years, I have been focusing on Azure Maps. Both teams have helped me grow as a software engineer and a person. I couldn’t be more grateful for the support and opportunities I have had with my ~5 years working on simplifying the commerce experience. There is certainly more work to do in commerce, but I made a switch to broaden my experience. Azure Maps has been an experience, unlike anything I’ve had before. The product can be found online, and the goal is to help our Azure customers have a location platform they can trust because of our compliance, security, and availability. There is more to that statement than typical marketing might have you believe.
Very few people know that I live with a neurological medical condition diagnosed with Mitochondrial Myopathy. For those who are unaware of this condition; it shows up as severe muscle exercise intolerance. Imagine for a moment that you walk a city block or but near the end of the distance your heart rate is 140 BPM. Aerobic activity can incapacitate me, meaning send me to the hospital if I over-exert myself. All my life I have done everything I can to try to fit into normal physical activities. I had not been diagnosed until I was in my undergraduate degree.
As a teen, imagine that running laps during soccer practice resulted in extreme fatigue and eventual consequences. It meant as I grew up this condition had unknowingly placed a burden on my shoulders that something was wrong with me. Everyone around me thought it was a lack of interest, discipline, or something in my head. It was none of the above. There had been many times during high school where I was embarrassed by my inability to keep up during physical education classes and this had affected my self-esteem for many years at that age.
Coming back to the present day, I found myself wanting to be “normal”. We all wonder what we mean by normal, but my definition was that I just wanted to go hiking, running around the park, or be involved with sports. I’ve come to accept that is not possible. I should be myself and stop trying to be someone I am not. I have lived my life bringing up this medical condition only when I had to. I look like a healthy man who would never seem to have an invisible condition, it has taught me a lot which I am going to share. Maybe those who feel very similar can learn something from me, I think ultimately that’s what I hope to do here.
Stacking Opportuntity 