I’m so lucky to work with an incredible team of creative and talented people who share my passion for education and design. Some of them amaze me by working with our clients to produce months of engaging course content. Others excel at creating stunning graphics or interactive media that bring these same courses to life. Everyone has their superpower.
If I had to define my own superpower, I’d say it was Optimism. I’m a glass-half-full kind of girl that will see the best in every situation, and I’ll never pass up an opportunity to challenge myself or learn a new skill. I’m genuinely excited to hop into work every day, and I do everything in my power to make the most of what I do.
But with every super power, along with it comes Kryptonite – that one challenge that tests us, that may prevent us from reaching our full potential.
I have yet to meet someone who hasn’t faced an obstacle or adversity in their career. Whether struggling with learning a new skill or technology, or juggling several projects at once to meet a rapidly approaching deadline, we have all experienced some form of challenge.
Like so many, the biggest challenge I have is presenting and public speaking. My heart races any time anyone even mentions the word presentation. I prefer to get lost in my work for hours at a time, behind the scenes. And for most of my professional career, I hadn’t given very many presentations at all.
It was during my co-op placement with D2L that I had my first real experience presenting to an audience. It was a small, internal, audience, but still – it was an audience! I still remember how daunting that was at first. But that first time turned into several times, and before I knew it, I was giving monthly presentations to fellow employees.
I was beyond grateful that my co-op term was extended from 4 months to a full year, because although I was still very shy, I wasn’t ready to leave just yet – I still had so much to learn, and I knew that by practicing regularly, I was overcoming my fears – and that was so exciting.
After graduating, I happily accepted an offer to join D2L full time, as a Courseware Developer. I was ready to work with the tools I had been using every day as a student, and I couldn’t wait to use the skills I’d gained during my co-op placement to make a real difference.
Part of my role was to present different forms of content and ideas to several different audiences. And although I’d had practice during that co-op placement, it was different now. The fears I thought I had under control came back with a vengeance. I began to wonder if this was something I would ever overcome, and if so, how?
I recalled my superpower. Optimism.
I knew it was time to suit up and destroy my kryptonite once and for all.
To confront my biggest challenge, I stayed optimistic. I remembered that this was something I had overcome before, and I could do it again. Looking back though, I feel like another challenge was allowing myself to step outside of my comfort zone, and pushing myself to speak up. After acknowledging the problem and seeking as many opportunities as I could to just practice public speaking, I noticed presenting was becoming second nature. These last couple of years have had a tremendous impact on my confidence. That’s one of the things I enjoy most about D2L – the chance to take part in professional development activities to continually improve our skills.
I will always be grateful for the opportunities I’ve had to grow. I’m also thankful for the team of superheroes I work with for inspiring me to break out of my shell every day, and for reminding me that everyone can overcome any challenge with their own unique skills.
If you’re ready to take on or overcome your next challenge, you should check out our job openings at D2L.com/Careers
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