Almost One Year at Anthropic
almost a year ago, i walked into the anthropic office for the first time.
i was 20. i was terrified. i had no idea what i was doing.
eleven months later: i'm 21. still sometimes terrified. slightly more idea of what i'm doing.
by the numbers
- PRs merged: lost count (but definitely more than my first nervous one)
- code reviews received: many (humbling, educational)
- meetings attended: too many (but mostly valuable)
- coffee consumed: please don't make me calculate this
- bugs caused: some (we don't talk about the one in october)
- bugs fixed: more than caused, thankfully
what i learned
technically:
- how alignment research actually works in practice
- designing experiments to test safety interventions
- the difference between "works in theory" and "works at scale"
- so much about alignment science that i can't share
professionally:
- how to communicate in technical environments
- code review culture (giving and receiving feedback)
- how to ask questions without feeling stupid
- project management basics
personally:
- that i can do hard things
- that imposter syndrome fades (a little)
- that i'm in the right place
the highlights
- first PR merged (terrifying but satisfying)
- watching claude 3.5 sonnet launch
- computer use ship day
- claude code launch
- the moment i actually understood something in a meeting instead of pretending
- making friends at work
the lowlights
- the bugs (especially that one)
- late nights (sometimes necessary, always exhausting)
- homesickness peaks
- moments of genuine "what am i doing here" panic
how i've changed
before: intimidated by everyone, afraid to speak up, felt like a fraud.
now: still occasionally intimidated, more willing to speak up, only feel like a fraud 60% of the time.
that's progress.
what's next
another year, hopefully. more learning. more contributing.
i want to be someone who makes a real difference here. not just shows up and does assigned tasks. actually shapes things.
that's the ambition for year two.
gratitude
to anthropic for betting on someone junior.
to my team for patient mentorship.
to the work itself for being meaningful.
i'm exactly where i want to be. that's rare and special.
marked the anniversary by walking into the office like normal. except today i felt like i belonged there.