Meet our 2021 interns who made their experience memorable with memes, rick-rolling, and lots of Chipotle

What do internships at Dropbox look like during Virtual First? The answer hasn’t changed: they’re still really, really fun. Our latest cohort of interns answered some of our rapid fire questions about their experience — filled with memes, cool projects, and virtual social gatherings galore.

Describe your journey to Dropbox in two sentences or less!

• Angela: Hackerrank through Grace Hopper Conference. Then, we painted a giraffe by the numbers.
• Jaimie: Joined as a Launch intern last year then, returned this year for another summer of fun, learning, and work.
• Ross: After much searching online, I found Dropbox. I read how great the culture was and the interesting problems that could be solved there, and I decided to apply.
• Samuel: I attended Codepath’s Virtual Career Fair and got exposure to the Launch internship from Dropbox’s info session where previous interns spoke about their experiences. It was a fun experience!

What’s your role at Dropbox now?

• Angela: Launch Intern on Shared Links team
• Jaimie: SWE Intern on Platform Frontiers
• Ross: SWE Intern on the HelloWorks team at HelloSign
• Samuel: Launch intern on the Mobile Home (Android) team

How do you connect with your fellow interns in a Virtual First world?

• Angela: Annoy them on Slack and Discord to do paint by the numbers, play Minecraft, and have 1:1 chats that have a 50% chance of too much Zoom eye contact. Also, rick roll them with fake painting kit Amazon links and make memes of them.

A meme of Kip, a fellow intern: MudKIP

• Jaimie: Socials are definitely the most common and a lot of fun. However, I’ve gotten to know people more closely through 1:1s, intern pod meetups and working on a Hack Week project together!

Hackweek Team: (from top to bottom, left to right) Hugh Bromund, Jaimie Jin, Angela Li, Yufan Mou, Kate Matheson, Taylor Hansen, Yingxi Lin, Xin Wang. Kate is an Ignite Apprentice and the rest are interns

• Ross: Talking over Slack or setting up 1:1s can be daunting at first, but after talking for a bit and going to different fun socials, the walls of Virtual First came down and it became easy to connect virtually with my peers.
• Samuel: Playing online games, going to socials (e.g. Trivia Night, Escape Room, Paint by Numbers), 1:1s where there’s a 50% chance of too little Zoom eye contact. Getting rick rolled >:

Left: Paint By Numbers/Felting Social! (I wish I was in the group pic too but I had to leave early; Right: Samuel with his Starry Night Cat painting for the Paint By Numbers/Felting social event

What’s been your favorite part of your experience so far at Dropbox?

• Angela: The socials! I love talking to everyone.
• Jaimie: Socials are definitely the best part as you are able to get to know others in the intern cohort and make new friends that go beyond the internship.
• Ross: The socials are so exciting! They range across so many topics and areas of interest, so that everyone feels included and can have fun doing something.
• Samuel: I really liked the socials. I got to meet a lot of funny people in them and had a blast playing games and doing random stuff, like making boba to playing Codenames.
• Which Dropbox Studio do you want to visit first when they’re open and why?
• Angela: SF. I want an excuse to go to California.
• Jaimie: SF, because I did onsite interviews there, so I want to see how it has changed!
• Ross: SF, because I would also like to go visit California.
• Samuel: SF because I’m closest to there. But I hope that in the future, one can open in LA.

What’s your go-to working lunch?

• Angela: Chipotle veggie bowl w/everything.
• Jaimie: Noodles. Most likely it’ll be Udon.
• Ross: Chipotle chicken bowl.
• Samuel: Taiwanese bento place 2 minutes from my house. But if that’s closed, I get Pho and get absolutely knocked out from the ensuing food coma.

Describe your favorite music/playlist to listen to when you’re working.

• Angela: Watermelon sugar. HIGH!!
• Jaimie: Custom playlist with songs of my choosing
• Ross: House music on repeat.
• Samuel: I always start my day with some Jazz and then transition to lo-fi after I wind up. I stream them on YouTube!

Why should other people like you apply to Dropbox?

• Angela: Everyone at Dropbox is so friendly! There is excellent mentorship, and you get to learn so much while having fun times at puzzle hunts, trivia, boba hangouts, etc.! Also, meme and Slack emoji power > 9000.
• Jaimie: Dropbox has an amazing culture where everyone is open and friendly. You can reach out to almost anyone to chat with. There are many social events where you can get to know each other and have fun and there are also learning and development events where you learn about different parts of the company. As interns, you will work on meaningful and impactful projects that align with your interests. Though everything is virtual, Dropbox does an amazing job at making sure you are connected.
• Ross: Everyone I have met at Dropbox, from the other interns to the employees I worked alongside, has been so friendly and accommodating. As this was my first internship, I was nervous and didn’t know what to expect, especially being completely virtual, but not only have I learned so much, I had so much fun this summer! With my project, I feel like I’m providing true impact to the product I work on.
• Samuel: Dropbox has an amazingly friendly, helpful, and inspiring work culture. You get to meet a lot of talented people that have a lot to share and teach you. Plus, it was super fun working here with all the cool benefits and fun events (there were awesome events like pasta-making with grandmas event and a virtual escape room)!

Left: Samuel used part of his learning and development fund to learn cake decorating at Duff’s Cake Mix in Irvine, CA where he made a Frog Cake with his girlfriend!; Samuel has always wanted to learn 3D printing, so he used part of his learning and development fund to buy a 3D printer and start learning!

Interested in discovering your own rick-rolling potential at Dropbox? You can check out open positions here!