Reflections

How SDS shaped me as an engineer.

SDS didn’t just improve my code. It changed how I operate in every technical environment.

At Mozilla

Telemetry work now feels natural because SDS taught me:

• Correctness over speed
• Incremental PRs
• Multi-layer feature logic

Code review discipline came directly from eight months of learning how David reviews PRs.

At RBC Capital Markets

MarkUs and PythonTA taught me that the best engineers aren’t the ones who know everything—they’re the ones who ask the right questions.

• Ask early, ask often. Clarifying requirements upfront saves hours of rework.
• Learn from every code review. Every comment is a lesson.
• Admit when you don’t understand. The fastest way to learn is to say “I don’t know.”
• Collaborate, don’t isolate. The best solutions come from discussing trade-offs with peers.

In quantitative trading, where correctness is non-negotiable and markets move fast, this mindset is critical.

For Anthropic @ UofT, Blueprint, and UofT AI

Presenting SDS work every week taught me:

• How to lead technical discussions
• How to teach concepts cleanly
• How to deliver feedback kindly
• How to design slides under pressure

What I’m Most Grateful For

David Liu’s code reviews — The best feedback I’ve received in my career so far. Precise, kind, rigorous.

The SDS community — High bar but supportive. I always felt like my work mattered.

The opportunity to work at university scale — It’s rare for students to touch production code that thousands rely on.

Habits I’m Carrying Forward

• Ship small
• Test thoroughly
• Ask good questions
• Write for humans
• Treat code review as collaboration, not evaluation
• Document openly

This is my last semester with SDS before going full-time into Firefox engineering, quantitative trading, and leading student organizations.

But the habits I built here stay with me forever.

Thank you to everyone who made this experience possible.