Unfortunately on Wednesday this week, I succumbed to COVID-19 that lasted through all of Memorial Day weekend. I felt bad for getting sick, too, even though it's irrational and out of my control. I've always had the "hardworking to perfection "student image ingrained in my identity since forever, but I'm learning to shed much of that pressure as I complete my second degree and commit to this internship. It serves as an important reminder for any career undertaking: it's important to balance work with your personal needs, and I want to give myself the chance to recover and come back with sharper focus. Thank you, Claudia, for reminding me to rest.

Though inconveniences like these are unfortunate and unpredictable, one of the principles of agile is "Responding to change over following a plan." While agile incentivizes speedy production, it also maintains this reality check of shifting circumstances and encourages adapting to these changes. This can mean anything from pushing a task to next sprint to completely changing course and focusing on another aspect of the project.