Sam Youkeles, a rising Senior in Computer Science, just shared the following about his internship:
How did you find this internship?
A few years ago, I asked the site’s web developer (who is a family friend) if I could “shadow”
them to learn about web development. As I gained more knowledge and experience, the team gave me additional responsibilities. This semester, we organized the opportunity for me to work part-time.
What did you enjoy most about your internship?
My work this semester was to completely design and implement a webpage for the site. It was a very exciting challenge to have a project that was completely mine, which was something that I could be proud of. I experienced the process of creating a page from start to finish, including both visual design and functional implementation. I now have a much better understanding of all the steps that go into creating a webpage that provides a pleasant user experience, and am now
more prepared to do site development of my own in the future.
What did you find challenging?
When it was time for me to program my webpage so that it was functional, I had to make sure that it integrated well into the site’s existing codebase. Thus, I had to learn about the code structures and frameworks that were already in place before I could start writing my own code. Sometimes this took a lot of research, and I had to make sure that I was not afraid to reach out to my supervisor if I needed help!
What advice would you offer to someone who wants to make the most of an internship like yours?
I would recommend that they take initiative and make sure that their opinion is heard. It took me a while to realize that what I had to say mattered just as much as those who were more experienced than me. Even though I was an intern, I became the expert on the work that I was producing, which meant that it was up to me to make sure that my work was good quality and thorough. It’s important to show respect to your own abilities!
