What a last-minute interview for APM at Google taught me about failure

In five short lessons.

So close, yet so much character built.

February 2019. I had just completed a completely solo backpacking trip around Europe, or, as I refer to it for Americans hoping to vacation there, “Off -by-one American culture.” I had just finished my undergrad in computer science at UW-Madison, and taken a bit of a gap before starting work in Austin…