That's odd... the email didn't start off with "Thank you for..." And just like that, I began my internship as a Software Engineering intern at Box Inc.
The first day was always the most exciting - I woke up in the wee hours of 7 AM, which was a total off-brand step for me. However, I deemed that my first Software Engineering internship was worth skipping my morning routine - laying in bed until noon.
The first week consisted of mostly introductions and familiarizing myself with the environment, lingo, platforms, etc. To give a quick insight, I was embedded into the Enterprise Security team - a relatively new team that was undergoing reinforcements, and I was onboarded amidst all of that. Indefinitely, it felt a little worrisome diving into this field for a few reasons:
I was not at all security-focused. My best bet in the industry was that I know that the antivirus software was what my brother downloaded into my laptop, and VPN was what my friends used to watch Netflix shows from different countries. (an exaggerated expression, if I may)
The team was new.
And with that, you might wonder why I chose this team to begin with. Well, to give an overview, we were allowed to select at most three teams that we were interested in working with. But the specific reason why Enterprise Security was amongst my Top 3 was because of the fact that I was sold by the manager of the team. When I asked, "What is some advice you could give me in terms of how I could improve myself whilst I'm still at school?" I was given the answer "Be proud of yourself." She explained that she understood how it was indefinitely hard to not beat yourself up over all the unexpected failures, especially as a student. However, she reassured me that I was on the right path, that I already had the intuitive thought to want to continuously improve, and that itself was enough. Her words comforted me as if she knew exactly how much I struggled. And I'm glad to be able to call her my manager.
Fast forward, I started exploring potential projects with my manager. With there being a lot of areas of possibility, the main focus was to uplift the Vulnerability Management Program in the new quarter. To be able to pinpoint the exact areas I was to participate in, I was allowed the leeway to explore the technologies used. Because what better way to understand the problem than to explore the source? Thus, a big portion of my experience consisted of research, reading up documents, and lots of question marks. Indefinitely, this continued to spark the excitement within me, as these are tools that I would've never had exposure to, as a student with a broke college girl budget.
Only that my biggest concern then was the fact that I wasn't given a task yet. Coming from my college background, I was always tasked with assignments, at least for the most part. I wasn't prepared, mentally, I mean. Because through my internship, I realized that there really isn't a task on hand, nor a weighted grade for each assignment. Rather than an instruction guide, I was given a whiteboard.
And I am beyond grateful for the experience. I felt part of the team, though I was just an intern. My ideas and thoughts were valued, and I felt heard. The people in the company were extremely helpful, often offering to jump on a quick call to clear any concerns I had. And with all the support I had, I finally leaned into my internship project - a compilation of brainstorming sessions on how my skills can be leveraged for the team.
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