A few years can seem like a lifetime or just the blink of an eye, depending on your perspective. For Cosmo Trikes, a software engineer at Oracle, time has sped by in a whirlwind of growth, challenge, and achievement—both personal and professional. When we last checked in, Cosmo was finishing his internship and already making a name for himself with his determination and creativity. As it turns out, he was just getting started. Today, Cosmo’s story is not only about climbing the ranks at Oracle—it’s about reaching goals and finding the flexibility to live life on his own terms.
Software Engineer, Oracle
New goals, new challenges
“So much has happened in the past two years! I think I’d hardly recognize myself if I went back,” Cosmo shares. After his internship, Cosmo achieved a series of goals many would consider out of reach—especially while balancing recovery and life as a wheelchair user. A stem cell treatment journey in Germany, bodybuilding aspirations, and an ongoing mission to walk again have defined the last year.
“Unfortunately, the stem cell treatment didn’t work at all. I know I did everything I could, and while I was there, I gave full effort in physical therapy. The entire journey before, during, and after taught me a lot about discipline and that there are parts of life out of my control no matter how hard I work. Most importantly, I haven’t given up in the slightest on walking again. I still journal my affirmations daily, one of them being ‘I will walk!’”
But if there’s one theme Cosmo returns to, it’s adaptation, resilience, and just keeping going, no matter the obstacles. “While I actively wait, I have this goal on the back burner so I can bring to the front the parts of life that had to be on pause.”
A place to grow
It’s an attitude he tracks all the way back before his intern days, and Cosmo’s Oracle growth journey has moved steadily uphill thanks to a culture that understands its people. “My trajectory seems like exactly what I’d expect,” he adds. “I work hard, I have a good team, I get lucky, and I get opportunities for growth. I can say that I’ve done my part of putting in the effort. It really is a testament to the great team and managers I’ve had. Those first few promotions required my manager to advocate for me and give me opportunities.”
Although for Cosmo, it’s never just about job titles. “I’m less focused on the promotion as much as I’m focused on learning from experience and putting in my best effort each day. To me what matters is the skills and experience gained because that’s tangible.”
Before, he’d put a lot of stock in reaching the leadership track as soon as possible, but as his experience has grown, he sees things differently. “The more I learn, the more I realize how much more I don’t know. It’s not discouraging as much as realistic, and if anything, it motivates me because it means that the path is much longer than I thought and still full of unknowns, but I’ve got a more complete map.”
Thinking like this can benefit anyone at any career level, which is why we always encourage our people to build a career plan that fits their needs and goals.
Lifting others up
Cosmo’s energy doesn’t end at Oracle’s doors. His blog, WheelchairDNA chronicles life, innovation, and big thinking as a wheelchair user, showing others what’s possible. It’s an area where the motivation was always clear. “All I knew at the time was myself, I didn’t think about how abnormal it was for me to do as much as I did. I figured I could make a few videos on YouTube and teach people how to do crazy transfers, like from the wheelchair to a plane (like a Cessna), how to open doors, how to lift weights, or simply how to put on pants!”
Taking a chance has paid off and Cosmo has been able to reach and inspire many others with his example. “I’ve had a lot of people comment on my videos about how watching me inspired them to do a sport or just to shake off the depression and go do something. Sometimes all we need is to see someone do something, and then we realize we can do it too.”
With WheelchairDNA becoming an LLC and gaining steam, Cosmo plans to keep on building: “My personal goal is to financially support doing more videos and have it be self-sustaining. I don’t need to make money, though; the overall goal is to inspire people to really act and improve their lives by seeing what’s possible as well as seeing how with my instructional videos.”
The internship effect
In many ways, his Oracle internship was the first domino to fall in this amazing series of events. “Without having done the internship, my life would be wildly different, so much so that I can’t even begin to speculate in what ways.” For many students and early-career professionals, internships are a leap into new worlds. Cosmo’s was exactly that—and more.
“I learned a lot about myself as well as about the world just by working at a big company and being exposed to so much for the first time. Maturity comes from experience along with a mind that’s open to learning from experiences.”
His most important takeaway, though, is that anyone can do anything. “There are some caveats, naturally, but for the most part, all it takes is time and effort,” he explains. I found myself, with unbelievable luck, joining a team with great people and a great manager who all support me and are giving me opportunities to grow.”
And that’s what makes all the difference: “We had a lot of people within Oracle meet with the whole intern cohort and talk about their side of business. I learned how big Oracle is and how many opportunities to change industry exist within our company. Similarly, I learned just how many jobs there are for things I’ve never heard of, aspects of the world I’ve simply never encountered.”
Flexibility meets bodybuilding
It should be clear by now that Cosmo doesn’t do anything halfway. So, when he decided to go after the Mr. Olympia stage—the Olympics of bodybuilding—it was a dream that stretched far beyond simple personal ambition. And Oracle had his back all the way with exceptional work-life balance.
“I’m so grateful for everything that came before me and all the stars that aligned to enable me to do these bodybuilding shows and win. Every day must be as close to perfect as it can be—you can’t make up for three bad days with one day three times as good.”
Flexibility and trust were to be the secret ingredients he needed for success. “It’s almost unquantifiable how important my manager has been throughout this process. The flexibility and trust that my manager gave me, the ability to work from home on days that gravity felt doubled or tripled, and the flexible vacation so that I can have time off to travel to the competitions. I still got my work done and I was available during the important hours of the day, but aside from these responsibilities, Oracle and my manager supported me to pursue my goals outside of work.”
It’s all added up to allow Cosmo to be both a pro software engineer and a pro athlete preparing for his next big competition. “I’m now a pro athlete—an IFBB pro bodybuilder. I’m going on stage at the biggest bodybuilding show in the world,” he adds.
Oracle’s global community
Oracle’s worldwide scope means something personal to Cosmo. During a self-directed trip to Singapore (his top-ranked city on a personally engineered criteria chart by the way), he reached out to fellow employees. What happened next not only confirmed Singapore as a dream future home—it proved the value of a global, open workplace.
“Everyone was hospitable and happy to show me around Singapore, give me suggestions, and include me overall. A few days after visiting the office, there was an organized group walk that I joined and got to meet even more people!”
“It was long enough to talk with many people and learn about Singapore and their story, what they do in Oracle and in life. I hope one day I can return the favor if any of them ever visit Colorado. I left Singapore knowing that this really is the place I want to live. It’s so cool and fun having an automatic global network of friendly people and something in common.”
Positivity and self-care
Behind this record of achievement is a strong commitment to mental wellness and finding joy in every day that matches Oracle’s commitment to employee wellness. “Staying positive and motivated is difficult and there are many days I don’t have motivation, or my mind shifts to being negative. The biggest impact to help, I’ve noticed for myself, is being around friends and family. Being around good people gives me energy and a type of accountability.”
His advice to others is simple. Find routine, ground yourself, and make space for the small joys as well as the big ones. “The first and hardest part is for each person to figure out what makes their mental health and self-care better and worse. From there it just takes a bit of discipline to implement the routine, but soon it’s frictionless. The general trend for mental health is to slow down and find beauty in exploring and observing. Having a therapist or people to talk to helps as well.”
For others facing difficulties—whether disability, career uncertainty, or something else—Cosmo offers one more piece of wisdom.
“Have at least one activity that is yours. The truth is that in a wheelchair life is hard in every single aspect. No exceptions. It’s a fact that I’m not emotional about. To me it’s not a sad truth, just a truth. Living with this truth is hard at times but often isn’t so bad. Just because all parts of life are harder doesn’t mean those parts of life are now bad themselves.”
“For anyone else who does not use a wheelchair, this still applies. Facing any challenge is specific to you, not to be compared to me or anyone else. When you face a challenge or setback, there is nothing else you can do but continue on. If you can laugh about it or realize that changes are opportunities for demonstrating your virtues, all the better.”
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