Cerebranium
My first stop into the edu-tech industry. My first spell of official employment
Where should I go? asked Alice
That depends on where you want to go" said the Cheshire cat
I started out as a creative writer and carved an HR role on the way.
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These are a group of people who have never met each other and yet, work together, work to make something that they believe in. Here, I witnessed what good leadership looks like, what empathy truly means and what good communication sounds like. A work culture that looks corporate-like in it's organized structure, but that's where the resemblance finishes.
This place reinforced my identity as a fun person, a performer, a host, a facilitator and my absolute intolerance for the mundane. It exposed my lack of impatience, my inability to retain information not directly pertaining to me. I understand my fear of being forgotten, of being ordinary better. I fear not living life well enough by which I deduce that I need to live my life better. Now's all the time I have.
Show and Tell-s
One of my first encounters with a designated meeting for something as fun as learning something new!
If I ever had my own company, I'd definitely include this feature and fondly remember my time at Cerebranium.
Here, I learnt how much I enjoy presenting new ideas. Here, I got validated for it, reassured of my ability to do it well. People enjoy listening to me speak, I am able to hold their attention.
What I learnt about humans and by extension, life from interviewing my colleagues about work culture
We want to be valued, to like to be part of a group, something larger than us. It sustains us. Money feeds us; the friendship, the learning, the growth is what keeps us alive.
People will forget what you said, they will remember how you made them feel. They will never forget you if you made them laugh.
“I have learned silence from the talkative, toleration from the intolerant, and kindness from the unkind; yet strange, I am ungrateful to these teachers.”
-Kahlil Gibran
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Kahlil Gibran said this with a wise heart. Wisdom can come from full hearts as well.
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I learnt that we are not alone in our insignificance on a late evening complaining about there being too many Muhmmad Rafi songs. I learnt to be polite from someone who was gentle with his words always. I was inspired by someone who told me that my lack of freedom was just me standing in front of myself. I learnt that I was surrounded by people who wish me well as I sat playing games amidst them. I was challenged when I was asked what I am doing here when my heart throbs to be solely creative. I witnessed beauty as someone in the middle of the workday spoke to me about how languages enchant them. I felt the genuine warmth of a text message two screens away on slack. I printed matching shirts and it brought me so much joy to see my friends wearing those. I learnt that freedom too, has constraints and those constraints can be liberating. I learnt that courage is in doing something about the causes you care for.
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I am grateful to these teachers and the opportunity to learn, to watch, to grow.
Cerebranites shall always have a special place in my heart. My doors are open:)