My Virtual Internship at Akamai
Written by: Ruchita Biradar
The year is 2020, and the Coronavirus has affected life around the world in so many ways. For me, a third-year engineering student at R.V. Bangalore , I was looking forward to starting my internship at Akamai when the pandemic took hold, and suddenly everything seemed so uncertain.
Then an email arrived from Akamai HR. The internship would go ahead, and I would be completing it virtually. Sitting at home in lockdown, it was welcome news, and I was excited to get started.
HR stayed in touch throughout, and assured me that everyone at Akamai was committed to making sure all the interns could start as planned. In fact, the onboarding process was incredibly smooth. A company laptop was dispatched to me, and while waiting for it to arrive I was able to attend induction programs on my phone.
I've "met" some great people along the way too. My manager contacted me on my first day to welcome me, and has been a guiding light throughout. I was also assigned a mentor, who has been incredibly supportive - helping me to navigate things personally, and to understand the technologies I'm working with. My whole team has been patient and encouraging, and I hope to some day meet them all in person.
It has been a rewarding experience, but also a heart-warming one. Akamai's work is fundamental to people and companies around the world right now - helping them to keep going as we increasingly rely on technology. I'm proud to be a part of that. And I think I'm very lucky to get experience in an environment where everyone genuinely wants you to succeed. I feel truly valued as an intern.
To show my appreciation, I penned a few words the best way I knew how: in a little poem.
Learn to work, and work to learn,
Taking on obstacles hard to discern,
Aiming to perfect my work as much as possible,
Making possible, even the impossible.
Hence I begin my journey here at Akamai,
There ain't no river too wide, no mountain too high, (Get the reference?)
There might be challenges that unfold,
But they do say learning never gets old.
So cheers, Ciao and Aloha,
I think I've used up my rhyming quota,
Back to work, see you in a while,
Hope this little poem made you smile.
