Life is a box full of an assortment of chocolates. You never know what you will get next. Just like my experience in ESSHVA as an Intern. From being just another university student to working in the same company simultaneously under 2 projects within 2 years, my journey with ESSHVA has been a box of chocolates. So, hold my hands as I take you through this journey which told me how self-belief, continuous learning, and the right opportunities can turn our lives into what we want them to be.
My journey started as an Intern in February 2020 in ESSHVA. It was my first IT job and I was clueless about how this will turn out to be. I didn’t even know how to face an interview. But one very important thing I did on that day, changed my life. I answered with honesty. I think every new person who tries to come into the industry should know that. I was honest about myself and had an honest discussion on how we can work on mutual growth. The first few months were smooth, for the first time I learned the workplace dynamics and was in awe about how friendly the IT environment was. ESSHVA respected people more than processes and made them take ownership of their work and ensure that the work gets done. Just as I started to learn the C# stack under the guidance of Thenuwara, and enjoyed the “Kahata” made by Ishara, it all came to a sudden stop. Not only for me but, for the entire world.
Covid loomed large and dark over our lives, and all our lives were turned upside-down. Everyone was working from home, and I couldn’t continue my learning under a senior. Every business paused for a couple of months. By the time we started to adapt to the remote situation, I was out of touch with what I had learned previously. While many companies were laying off employees to minimize the impact on their businesses, I was being paid monthly for doing nothing. That’s when I wanted to do something other than just learning and started writing and managing a native language blog. This continued for the rest of the period of Covid and just like all companies did, ours also was trying to fight back the negative impact of covid and the downward spiral that came with it. Therefore,I didn’t have any seniors to guide me with the development. This period of time allowed me to learn more, gather my diploma and also focus on a little bit of SEO Management. That was my second big lesson, be prepared for environmental changes. If something unexpected happens, make sure to embrace the situation and try to adapt ourselves to the situation.
After more than a year passed by, I decided to make a change and joined another organization. But fortunately, it wasn’t the end. In just 3 months, I got a call saying that there was an opportunity to work on a mobile app, that a group of interns will be recruited for the purpose, and whether I would like to join them. That call changed my entire life. I got new friends and a new project to work on. We were working under the guidance of a project manager, who made our internship more fun and beneficial. The project was an In-house product, and RCS was revamped as Assist. We started by gathering requirements, creating process flows, practicing agile methodologies, designing mock-ups, brainstorming solutions for the product requirements, and playing smash carts after 6 pm. 3 months of a repetitive cycle with these and we found ourselves, with a well-bonded, caring, and hardworking team, that also wanted to make sure we got the maximum output of what we were given. This is when I learned the next important lesson. People are different; they each have different attitudes, personalities, and different perspectives on things. Not all teams are the same, but any team can become strong enough to fulfill the task if we have empathy.
Our product manager always used to say the product’s growth with the term “ball is rolling”. Well, the ball picked up the pace and hit its first hurdle right when it passed the checkpoint. The coding process started, and the manager was preparing for a change in her career. So, the “Intern babies” have to now start walking alone with what they learned so far. Learning new technologies in a few weeks, using version control systems, converting the business requirements into workable code with quality while making sure that we meet the requirements in time, learning to use JIRA and other management tools, conducting daily scrums, testings, bug fixings and doing bug-free demos all were new to us and happened in a very short period of time. It was a very steep learning curve, and we had comparatively less assistance than before. Not only the work but also the fun paced too quickly. People started to come back to the office, we were going on trips, one of our team member’s weddings and birthday parties. Quickly the intern babies started to walk unassisted by themselves, and everyone around them was happy about the progress.
During this time, I was offered the opportunity to start working as a Support Engineer for a FinTech project, while giving guidance to the new set of interns who continue to be a part of the app development. I’ve learned how development works, how a team works, and how to understand a product and project. Looking back, from the person who said ‘printing stars in JAVA’ as a qualification to working on 2 projects that allow me to learn and grow myself, I feel overwhelmed with the opportunity that was given to me and how I utilized it.
The most important thing I want to share is that the IT industry is a sea full of opportunities, possibilities, and dangers. An internship helps you start the boat, that initial push that cannot be done alone. From there you map out your own path. Some of us are equipped with sails and some with oars or paddles. From the initial push and path of guidance, it is up to us how we navigate the boat. Use the skills and knowledge learned through the internship to take you to your desired destination.
