My first internship in the US

Gayatri Nambiar
Aug 22, 2017 · 2 min read
Washington D.C.

Over the last 3 months, I have been fortunate to work alongside some of the most innovative and creative minds in the Ed-tech industry. Though the company “Caila” is relatively a new one, it is definitely one of the startups to watch out for soon. Their passion to make learning accessible and affordable to all, surely was contagious.

For my internship, I worked as a Software Intern. I was amazed that in 3 short months, I learnt to build a chatbot, got the opportunity to lead the company’s infrastructure on Amazon Web Services cloud platform, learnt about startup methodologies, and above all grew up professionally. Being a part of a fast-moving startup, it was a learning experience for me, because each one of us would pitch in and play many roles. This furthered my ability to multi-task in an environment of changing priorities.

When I started off, I had two things in mind which I accomplished. One, blend my interest and ability. Two, build a portfolio of practical and applied projects to get relevant experience in my area of interest.

As this was my first experience working in a foreign country, I had my set of apprehensions too. Whether I would have trouble articulating my words or fit in the work culture. I met and learned from so many amazing individuals carrying diverse knowledge and backgrounds. Gradually with more interactions and the support of my team I learned to communicate more openly and confidently. I realized that there is much more potential within a person than they can possibly think of. It is a matter of realizing it. So my advice to all the newbies out there, is to seize the opportunity, mask most of it, challenge yourself and most of all believe in yourself, the rest is noise..

This internship has confirmed my want to work in the cloud and big data industry. Overall, I could not ask for a better summer.

Best,

Gayatri Nambiar

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