My first day at Ciena: Dec 9, 2019

On December 4, 2019, I was in?Walt?Disney World?in Florida. I was celebrating my 20th?wedding anniversary with my husband and two teen-aged daughters, and I was taking?a few weeks off?before I began my new position at Ciena as a Technical Curriculum Manager. If I had only known what was about to befall us in 2020 with COVID-19, I?would?have added on a few more days at Disney!??

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On?Sunday,?December 8th, I kissed my husband and children goodbye at the airport. They boarded one plane back?home?to?snowy?New Hampshire, and I boarded another plane to Hanover, Maryland and?Ciena’s?offices. I gripped my carry-on bag with sweaty palms. I was accustomed to traveling for business, but seldom going to a new office, in a new city, and not knowing a solitary team member to call. I thanked Jet Blue profusely for the smooth and quiet?flight, and?found a Lyft ride to the hotel. I was fortunate that my first week coincided with the Learning team’s annual on-site meeting, so I got the chance to meet the entire team face-to-face, even though I was working primarily remotely (again, who?could have known?what 2020 was going to bring to working?remotely?). I found my?hotel?room, dropped my bags, and fell abruptly to sleep after checking to make sure my family had made it home safe and sound, with all our Disney treasures in tow.

On December 9th,?I woke up in a strange hotel room. After a moment of disorientation, I remembered?where I was, and why I was there.??

“It’s my first day?at?Ciena.”?Gulp.??

I pulled on my very best,?blue, business dress?that I had specially purchased at Talbot’s, and put on jewelry and make-up. As someone who worked from home for seven years prior, this was a novelty in and of itself. I packed up my purse what whatever I thought I might need in the office:?identification, my phone, charging cable,?breath mints, replacement lipstick, tissues?(oh, I hope there is no crying today!),?and a bag filled with Disney candy which I hoped?I might share with new co-workers.???

I got in the elevator, armed with an email message, and a contact number for a local?team member?to call who would meet me for breakfast and?help?me?get?to the office.?As the elevator clicked down from floor to floor, I said a little prayer:?“Please, HR, please, please, please, do a good job here. Let me be the right fit. Let me be the right person. Let them like me. Let me like them, too. Please, please, HR, I hope you got this right.”??

I dialed the number on my phone for?“that?Dan?guy,”?who had agreed to meet me for breakfast and introduce me around. I was terrified.??

Would they like me??

Will anyone get my?name?right? Thanks, mom, for giving me a name that NO ONE gets right. Like, ever.??

Had I made the right choice, to leave my old company and come here???

What if I’m not smart enough to do this job???

What if HR made a terrible mistake and I’m not qualified for this???

Will I like my?manager? Will they like me???

Will I get to work with women, and not just men? My professional history working as a woman in technology was generally working with a single-digit percentage of women.??

What do I really know about optical networking, lasers,?shark-proof submarine cable systems,?and satellite synchronization???

What if the team is dysfunctional????

I don’t know a single person?here,?I don’t have a single contact. Who do I go to for stuff? How do I figure out who to go to for what??Who will I chat with? What is their chat app???

Who do I talk to all day???

Will I be that girl that eats lunch by herself like a psychopath???

Dan met me in the hotel lobby and walked me down?to?the breakfast?area, where I met the first members of my new team?who had traveled from overseas.?I gulped. Not another woman in sight. Yet. But with a certificate in Women’s Leadership from the American Management Association in my back pocket, and decades working in technology, I knew how to handle myself.??I remember I took great pains at that breakfast to talk about how I came from a tech support background, and that I was not “just a writer.”??

Dan drove me over to the office, and helped me find my way in. I was photographed for my ID?card, and?found the IT “bar” where I got a Mac from smiling faces. I had never seen such a cool IT “bar” concept before – the colors, the screens, the whole setting was quite novel and impressive.??

I was on my way?with no need for tissues whatsoever?– identification, access credentials, and a Mac. What more could you ask for???

Well, a team, of course! (And the Ciena Acronyms?Guide, naturally).??

I met my team all at once – a training room filled with faces, chatter, and smiles. The team had not seen one another in a while, so there were hugs, high fives, and laughter all around me. Dan introduced me around, and I met my manager for the first time.?Gulp,?make a great first impression, smile!???

When the session officially kicked off, we did introductions. When it came to me, I stood up on trembling legs, and said,?“My name is Carem, and this is my very first day at Ciena.”?The room erupted in applause. I felt welcome. I drew a deep breath, noting all of the strong women in tech in the room with me. I wanted to be memorable, and funny, so I continued on,?“This may be my first day, but I do not come to you with empty hands. I just got back from Disney World, where I visited the Galaxy’s Edge planet?Batuu. I have brought you these rations to share.”??I then passed around my offerings of goodwill and friendship?(Disney candy and a “Resistance MRE” that I procured at Galaxy’s Edge especially for this purpose), and?prayed that?I had been funny and made a good first impression.?It has long been my experience that you cannot go wrong by being?the first person to be mindful of the other.?Ever read that book,?The Go Giver???

That first day was long, but I had a catalog of names and faces, new systems I now had access to, and new ideas to think about. The team had dinner together, and it was a 14-hour day that left me feeling?exhausted, but?peaceful, content, and curious about what the rest of that week would bring.??

I called my husband and children that night from the hotel, and listened to their stories about unpacking, filling the laundry room with bathing suits and shorts from the trip (hey, you know, I’m not the only person who knows how to operate the washing machine…). I told them all about my new team, and the laughter over the MRE snacks, and that I got a shiny new MacBook to work on. I told them about the 60-page Acronyms Guide, and that I had a lot of new terminology to put into working memory. And I told my family how grateful I was for this new, shining, opportunity made available to me, offered to me.???

And I thought…you know, HR may have just got this right. This might just work…this is going to be okay. Maybe even better than okay.??

?This week, I mark my two-year anniversary in Ciena Learning. I do not take for granted the exceptional, talented, technology professionals that I have the honor of calling my co-workers and teammates. Thank you, Ciena.