Gear_up_prework.md

What role does empathy play in your life and how has it helped you?
Empathy has helped me in my personal and professional life. As a medic in the military it was important to empathize with patients as well as co-workers who were going through tough times. As an Uber driver, I pick up people from all walks of life. One ride I'll be picking up a poor student or blue collar worker and dropping them off in their small apartment they can barely afford, and the next passenger will be heading from an expensive restaurant out to their 8-bedroom mansion. It is very important for me to deal with everybody in the same manner and not treat people differently.
How does empathy help you build better software?
Empathy will help me build better software because I can associate with all users and putting myself in their shoes while building a program. Listening to your users without empathy will create an undesirable program design. Their input is important because you want to create a long-lasting relationship with companies that hire you to do a job. I thought the example of Lucy was perfect because she was happy to get a program that would literally change her life. If the developer had not listened to her ideas, she would've found somebody else that would.
Why is empathy important for working on a team?
Working with teams will be a lot easier when I can understand how their life has brought them to this point or what struggles they are currently facing so I can help them out on a personal level to make projects go smoother. Development teams are very diverse and they need to be to make a universal product that can achieve greatness around the world. A great example of failure due to not having a diverse team is Gucci. They made a sweater that looked like black face which is very offensive. I'd be willing to bet the team that worked on that had no idea how awful of an idea it was. If they had only had a wide range of voices they could have prevented embarrassment for them and, more importantly, historic pain for black people.
Describe a situation in which your ability to empathize with a colleague or teammate was helpful.
I had a co-worker when I was working in a clinic that had multiple medical issues. Personally, I've been very privileged to be healthy and I could get mad that I'm doing more of the work but instead I'm just thankful that I'm healthy and am more than happy to make their life a little easier. I would always ask her how she felt in the morning so I could get a grasp on how the day would go for her and our clinical team. If I had no empathy, it would have made her life more miserable and, in turn, our team would suffer from the consequences. We had a very good working relationship and still have a great friendship today.
When do you find it most difficult to be empathetic in professional settings? How can you improve your skills when faced with these scenarios?
Empathy can be tough in the workplace when you're on a deadline and you need everyone to be on board. The ability to listen to each other can go out the window if you let stress get the better of you. The best way to improve this is by taking a step back to breathe and realize that personal conflict is just as important when getting work done. I can listen and try my best to make their life a little easier in the short and long run. I know this will translate well when working on software development.