Celebrate your wins - celebrate them hard
Original email from July 25, 2024
It's around 9 pm as we wait patiently for the news from my mom's phone.
She's a nervous mess. My dad is chill with loads of confidence, chatting up my uncles. I'm with Rebekka and my cousins keeping an eye on 3 bags of "goodies" we'll use in a bit.
We're outside of my sister's university in the winter cold. She's inside waiting for the professor to grade her final exam. The final exam that, if she passes, means she'll graduate and be done with studying forever.
If she doesn't, my parents will have to keep paying tuition for a few more months 😭
When she gets any news, she'll send a quick message to my mom. Meanwhile, we're all just chilling alongside other families waiting for their kids as we-
AHHHHHHH!!!
We all turn our heads as my mom starts screaming and bouncing up and down in tears.
SHE PASSED SHE PASSED!!!
We all in unison cheered and yelled in happiness. Huge waves of relief everywhere. She DID IT!! Let's goooooo!!
A few minutes later she comes down with her classmates as we chant her name. She has the biggest smile I've ever seen on her face as she goes to hug my mom. Then my dad, then me.
It was a beautiful, wonderful, sweet moment as she one by one hugged and kissed every one of us. ☺️
15 minutes later, she looked like the Stay puff marshmallow man from Ghostbusters
I'd like to remind you all that I'm in Argentina. And Argentineans party and celebrate HARD.
We have a tradition here called "la hueveada". It's a custom we do when somebody graduates from university.
The bag of "goodies" I mentioned earlier? They were bags of colored powder, flour, some eggs and loads of cans of silly string. What we did was cross the street to the little park in front of the university and just go ham on her. Everybody grabs a can of silly string and shoots it at her, coating her in flour and eggs and creating the absolute most disgusting MESS I've ever seen.
"You only graduate once" one cousin said as she broke an egg in her hand and dropped it on her head 😂
It was a really fun experience. Also a huge reminder to celebrate your own successes, no matter how small.
Finally finished that long complicated course that gave you a certification? Celebrate!
Did you finish your project in time and the client was happy with it? Celebrate!
Did you muster up the courage to post in Linkedin despite the social anxiety of being seen? Celebrate!
We're developers. We're in it for the long haul. Celebrate the small wins, the times you conquer the small challenges, the moments where you have everything "click".
But especially celebrate the big milestones, even if for others they might be small. Be like Argentineans. Be proud and loud.
