Prior to starting as a Junior Engineer, I did not have much practical experience working within an Agile environment. The few internships I completed did not operate in a structured Agile manner, and we did not workin within a Sprint Cycle. So, needless to say, it was a little bit of a learning curve figuring out how to effectively work within a Scrum environment on a fully remote team.
My first sprint with the team was a mostly positive experience. I was assigned a ticket that was related to a Logging Service object. The scope of the issue was relatively small, so it allowed me to spend time familiarizing myself with the new codebase. After some digging around and debugging, I was able to make the necessary changes and submit a Pull Request to my team. The review that my team gave provided constructive feedback and tips on best code practices.
Since my first sprint, I have had the ability to work on multiple feature and defect tickets. One thing that surprised me with the Sprint process was how dynamic it can be. Being able to adapt to unknown issues or an increase in scope is critical to setting realistic goals. Also, as with most jobs, effectively communicating with teammates is a great way to avoid surprises when deadlines approach. Overall, it has been a great experience to work within an Agile framework, and it has provided me with a lot of structure to grow as a software developer.
