Finally, we all meet.

Even though I've always heard the Apple Developer Academy was a special place infrastructure-wise, I admit I was not really that excited to start going there for real. We get used to comfort zones, and working online certainly fits the profile for me, a very lazy and autistic person. I admit the idea kinda freaked me out, actually, considering I needed to stop everything I was doing during my Academy hours to lie in bed in fetal position on an almost weekly basis.

However, after much preparing, which included talking to mentors and the coordinator about these crisis and how I felt about the possibility of having crisis while in the Academy building, I had mixed feelings about saying goodbye to the remote environment.

My first day in the Academy, though, met and exceeded all my expectations. I was afraid it'd feel awkward to meet everyone in person, finally seeing faces for real, but it just felt.. natural. The activities we engaged in certainly helped, and by the end of the first day I was feeling happy and excited about it.

So, there lies the question: what do I expect for our first non-online Mini Challenge?

First, I expect better communication. I've had my issues with lack of communicating with people from my previous challenges, and I am very happy to say that literally a couple days seeing people in person gave me not only a different perspective, but also allowed me to fix the biggest issue I've ever faced in my time during the Academy.

I am also very excited for the actual environment: all its technologies and the things we can do, such as writing in walls. Also, keeping in mind my challenge is about the Academy and making it a better place/space somehow is probably not something that would have showed up in our Engage if it weren't for us being there and looking at everything and being able to use it.

In the end, I am just thrilled to be living this experience in person.

Has it been a piece of cake? Definetely not. I'd already broken down, cried and felt sick there, not even mentioning being stuck in the elevator, and that is only the first week.

But I am feeling hopeful and very, very much taken care of. It's been a delightful experience to meet everyone in person, to hug pretty much everyone I wanted to, and simply being able to live the experience everyone from the past classes had told me about.