# about advisor to VP of infrastructure @ Uber https://staffeng.com/stories/rick-boone # quotes > [!quote] > As I spent time thinking about my goals, what I really came away with was that I love being a visible reference for other engineers, especially other minority engineers, and helping people here at Uber or earlier in their career. I especially enjoy helping people who are just getting into the industry, and might still be a little intimidated by it. That’s a huge part of what drives me, and this role has helped me realize and admit that to myself. Before I didn’t accept that as a valid purpose, but I realized that if it’s what you love, if it’s what you’re passionate about, then you have to go for it. > [!quote] > One is that I give an Engucation (what happens when you blend engineering and education into a single word) class every month to most new hires in engineering. That class is called “Lessons + Questions” and it’s literally just a place where they can ask me anything they want about Uber - technical, cultural, whatever - and I’m as candid as possible. # concepts - running a class for "newbies" to get access to someone with All The Context about anything