Mobilizing at Coursera

By Mike Luo

Hello world. My name is Mike Luo and this is my story as an intern at Coursera.

I first heard about Coursera from my good friend Jason, who was also a past intern. I was immediately sold on the Coursera mission and applied for an internship. On the first Monday of May 2015, myself and another intern, Stanley Fung, joined the mobile team.

Interns

The day began with us gathered in an on-boarding session on the main floor. We were greeted with laughs and friendly exchanges, and I instantly felt comfortable despite my nervousness of a first-day. After the usual technicalities for new hires, I was introduced to the mobile team and quickly ramped up on our project on the Android and iOS platforms.

Coursera is my first internship in the Bay area, and it’s definitely the best out of the four internships that I have completed. Unlike my past internships, I was given meaningful responsibilities and impactful work at Coursera. I was involved in many meetings and my inputs were valued by teammates. It felt like a full-time position with all the fun of an internship.

The mobile team executed in two-week sprints, and each sprint would introduce cool new features to the app. A few of the features that I worked on include introducing specializations and on-boarding to the mobile application. In addition to this, we are also constantly thinking of innovative mobile-only features that would enhance the learning experience for our users.

Mobile team mascot

But what actually makes Coursera so great is the environment and people. Everyone is immersed in the quirky culture of Coursera, and I am proud to have been part of such a great environment. In my short four months at Coursera, I have experienced many things that I’ve yet to find in any of my prior internships. From small things such as our team mascots, filming new-hire videos, or doing P90X in the gym; to bigger events like the company picnic or the San Francisco pride parade, each day feels saturated with Courserian culture.

Finally, I am thankful to my amazing co-workers on the mobile team for their caring mentorship and the opportunity to make a difference. Everyone is extremely talented and equally passionate about the Coursera mission — to enable and mobilize learners. And in the end, it is only fitting that I have learned more from Coursera than I have from anywhere else.

Originally published at building.coursera.org on August 10, 2015.