After a carefree summer as a postman, I began to study the mysteries of the second year with some calmness. Autumn brought order and rhythm to my life, and I gradually found stability in the world of academic learning. However, soon, like an unexpected whirlwind, the cause of my future anxiety and at the same time delight burst into my life - a girl. Her name was Alina (name changed).
Disagreements about the future
As you may have already noticed, in my life drama, it was the fair sex that often acted as antagonists. So, the prelude to our story played out in October, during the autumn melancholy and thick fog. The stage is the apartment of a guy who is practically unknown to me, who decided to collect his entire kaleidoscope of acquaintances in honor of his birthday.
Through my intellectual appearance, emphasized by the eyepieces, she saw a brilliant mind, and my business style of clothing caused a wave of admiration in her heart. We discovered a common passion - art, which became our bridge connecting two hearts. We even visited the exhibition together, plunging into the world of colors and feelings created by the hands of artists. Then, I became a frequent guest in her regional city, where we endlessly wandered through its streets or rode bicycles, absorbing every moment of our being together. At the beginning of our history, everything was a continuous joy and weightlessness.
But soon, serious topics invaded our conversations, casting a shadow on our carelessness. Children, career, future – very adult discussions for our 19 years. It seemed to me that a load of expectations hung over Alina, planted by her single mother. I doubted that the opinions she expressed were sincere–such premature responsibility did not seem natural for a person of our age.
Trying to work in a startup
And then, like an arrow shot, Alina's confident voice shot up: "We need to start working." I would understand her if she offered to combine our talents and directions in education, to explore the world of knowledge more deeply together. Such a symbiosis would promise many discoveries and adventures, more inspiring than her monotonous offer of a regular job.
There was certainly no sea of enthusiasm about abandoning studies and returning to slave labor. The path of difficulties and obstacles already passed made me stop for a moment. Besides, my education was already experiencing an attention deficit. And so, instead of agreeing to her proposal, I inevitably entered into discussions with her. My perplexity only grew. But still, we managed to find a kind of compromise. Instead of officially getting a job, we joined a startup of our friends. It was something like a non-profit cultural project.
Often we, as careless wanderers, went on a trip to our mutual friends, investing our strength in helping to arrange their shelter. Helped with repairs. These brave adventurers, having signed an apartment rental agreement, cheered up and decided to take control of time themselves. They imagined themselves breaking through the fog of everyday life and starting their career right among the four walls of their rented shelter, opening the doors to the boundless expanses of the Internet. Excited by reading the works of the great Artemy Lebedev, they discovered new horizons of web design and SEO, striving to transform these areas with their innovative approaches.
Internal conflicts and role in the team
So we joined this fun troupe, which nicknamed itself "OP-team". Despite the fact that I was formally a member of this team, in my heart I did not feel belonging. Often my path was blocked by walls of misunderstanding, disagreements, insults, and even notes of jealousy, because one of the participants in this creative project was inflamed by a passionate feeling for my chosen one. From him, as if frozen in the grip of his emotions, there was an icy wave of irritation that was directed at me.
While Alina, thanks to her university education (she studied to be a translator), quickly occupied a stable niche in the team, things were more complicated with me. I had to learn a lot on the go, and sometimes explanations were not given to me without difficulty. In the end, I was kind of on the pick-up, taking the place of a kind of station wagon. Most often, my duties included the role of an intermediary - I had to go to meetings with clients and understand what they wanted to get as a result of our cooperation. I became a kind of link between the client and those who eventually created the product - whether it was a website or its promotion.
Meetings with clients and feelings of frustration
I remember once going to another meeting with a client — a stern adult man. He generously praised the work we had done, especially the translation of texts, which, of course, brought its laurels to Alina. My task was to get a technical assignment. However, then I heard something I didn't expect to hear. "We really like this French site," he said, "just take it and transfer it to your server." In fact, he suggested that I just steal a foreign website. I was stunned, but I instinctively felt that it was wrong. I gave all the information to the guys, but this situation left me with a bitter aftertaste of frustration.
Meeting with professionals and refusing to work with clients
At that time, our relationship with Alina continued to crack at the seams. The heart no longer remembered the true core of the conflict, but the disputes intensified, turning into quarrels, and then into open battles. The same tension that was decaying in our feelings migrated to the workspace. I moved away from direct work with clients and became a less frequent guest in the apartment. Switched to remote work, offering ideas for filling sites. Articles appeared under my pen (mainly, rethinking of existing material), design concepts were born.
Conflicts and competition
At that time, our relationship with Alina continued to crack at the seams. The heart no longer remembered the true core of the conflict, but the disputes intensified, turning into quarrels, and then into open battles. The same tension that was decaying in our feelings migrated to the workspace. I moved away from direct work with clients and became a less frequent guest in the apartment. Switched to remote work, offering ideas for filling sites. Articles appeared under my pen (mainly, rethinking of existing material), design concepts were born.
Our disagreement with Alina overshadowed even the working atmosphere. To the amusement of our colleagues, we discussed and proved the advantages of our own concepts. A passionate struggle arose between us. The task was to illustrate a website dedicated to cargo transportation. She insisted on using photos for content (funny, did she expect to take on the role of a photographer herself?), and I suggested drawing hand-drawn typewriters resembling those we saw in textbooks. In the end, I took up illustrations, spending many hours on this work. But then, months later, when my participation in the team was already just a memory, I saw that my typewriters were replaced with illustrations created by Alina's method.
In the end, my visits to the apartment lost their meaning. I visited that place only in the hope of seeing Alina, but she seemed to have moved away to an insurmountable distance and no longer came there. Sarcastic comments about me from the guys only added fuel to the fire of my disappointment. This all finally crushed me, and I plunged into depression, for a long time refusing even the thought of earning money.
Results
Communication skills: I learned how to communicate with clients, find out their needs and expectations, and learned how to express my thoughts and ideas correctly.
Adaptation: In an unusual environment for me, I learned the ability to adapt quickly, and also developed the ability to work in a team.
Stress tolerance: This experience pushed me to develop stress tolerance, because I had to work in conditions of conflict and uncertainty.
Critical thinking: I began to evaluate the proposed ideas and concepts more critically, which helped me to be more creative and inventive in my proposals.
Self-study: I learned the skill of self-study and continue to develop it, because I was forced to search for and assimilate new information as I worked on projects.
Creativity and innovation: Despite the fact that not all my ideas were accepted, I continued to create and propose new concepts and approaches.
Dealing with conflicts: For the first time, I encountered conflicts in the workplace and in personal relationships, which helped me realize how they affect overall productivity and how important it is to be able to solve them.