Team Bonding

The Unique Experience at Sandbox

Throughout these years, in addition to providing opportunities for computer science and design enthusiasts to work on a variety of projects, Sandbox has always been trying to build a community where members feel comfortable learning and growing together with each other.

As a software consultancy, our members contribute to our projects immensely. They work closely as a team, having pair programing sessions, and hosting lightning talks or workshops to share coding or design experience. As a community, we want to create an environment where people can hang out and have fun through different social events such as donut pals, late night chats and walks, etc.

While our recruiting cycle is approaching again, we will share some of our members’ unique experience at Sandbox.

Meet our Members

Stefan Philip ‘23

• Team/Position: Vocab Buddy Team Developer
• Major: Computer Science
• Interests: Woodworking, Grilling, Fintech

Diana Steelman ‘22

• Team/Position: SearchNEU Team Designer
• Major: Graphic and Information Design
• Interests: Skateboarding, art, cooking/baking, pets

Daniel Wang ‘21

• Team/Position: GratitudeNU Team Lead
• Major: Computer Science & Finance
• Interests: Hiking, gym, Leetcode

Megan Li ‘23

• Team/Position: SearchNEU Team Developer
• Major: Computer Science & Design
• Interests: Tennis, typography, baking

Chris Myers ‘23

• Team/Position: Oasis Workshop Coordinator & PharmD Team Developer
• Major: Computer Science & Cognitive Psychology
• Interests: Tennis, guitar, biking, geography, dogs, McDonalds

Members’ Thoughts

What has been your favorite part about the project you’ve been working on?

• Stefan: My favorite part of working on Vocab Buddy was seeing it being built from scratch. There is a beauty in designing how the intricate pieces will work together to become a robust app and a meaningful experience for the students and researchers using it. Our team worked incredibly well together designing, developing, and managing such a unique application.
• Diana: I’ve loved making big changes on the Search NEU website and then to be able to see it in action and actually be able to use it. Many projects in my classes are all theoretical so it was nice to have a project that I worked on actually get used.
• Daniel: The best part about working on Gratitude was starting from scratch and finishing in one semester. Also, hearing the positive reviews from our client and her lab have been great because it’s always nice to know that you are making a positive impact.
• Megan: SearchNEU is a really interesting project and team because it’s one of Sandbox’s oldest projects and there are now a couple generations of former SearchNEU developers. One of my favorite parts of working on SearchNEU is getting to know some of these former developers who’ll pop into our calls to say hello or join the rest of the team for social outings.
• Chris: I liked working on Oasis because we were all really figuring it out as we went and shaping the fledgling program to be our own; it was a great experience possibly analogous to creating and company and figuring out what the customers want and how we can best deliver it. I liked working on PharmD because we were also starting the project from scratch, so there was a very educational experience of choosing a stack and living with the consequences of the choice for better or worse sometimes, all while figuring out how to develop in it alongside a group of really smart and motivated teammates.

What has been something meaningful / surprising that you’ve learned during your time with the club?

• Chris: I’ve learned that there is so much more to development than just learning the latest trendy languages. Creativity — deciding what direction you want to take a project, team dynamic and general fun are just as important. While Sandbox is about getting stuff done, there was a lot of time to focus on enjoying the process and learning as much as possible from it.
• Daniel: I think the most meaningful thing I’ve learned is that everyone can teach you something, but that also works both ways. Even if you feel you aren’t that experienced or anything, speaking up and sharing your thoughts can drive discussions that help everyone.
• Stefan: I love pair programming! There’s no better feeling than your programming partner instantaneously fixing a bug that you’ve been pulling your hair out on for hours. It’s also been extremely rewarding learning new technology from and with my team.
• Megan: AWS is expensive!
• Diana: I’ve loved getting to know everyone on my team and I was surprised that I was able to get to know members outside my team through donut pals and other social gatherings like skating or bubble tea.

What surprised you when you joined Sandbox?

• Megan: I was more than a little surprised when I first joined Sandbox that the technical director and technical lead of SearchNEU (Mitch Gamburg) was able and willing to pair program with me a couple times a week to teach me about SearchNEU and back-end web development. This speaks volumes to how Learn Together isn’t just a core Sandbox value on paper; it’s something Sandbox members actively practice and something that has helped me grow so much as a developer here in just two semesters!
• Chris: I was amazed athow smooth everything ran, from getting set up with my team and project to the flow of the general meetings. It is by far the most professional student org I’ve been a part of and it has only gotten better since I joined a year ago!
• Daniel: I was surprised by how friendly everyone was right away. I joined with the expectation that I would just be working on projects that would be good experience before I went on co-op, I didn’t realize that I would be making friends that I can talk to everyday.
• Diana: I was surprised by how collaborative the club was, I really liked this aspect as I feel like it brought the team closer together.
• Stefan: I was surprised to be instantly welcomed into a community of lively, driven, hilarious people. There are a lot of messages sent across our various Slack channels every day, and reading them always makes my day brighter.

What would you say to someone who is interested in joining the club?

• Stefan: Don’t hesitate to apply if you have never worked with web development before. I applied (twice) with *very* limited understanding of web dev. Once I made it into Sandbox, I worked hard to learn the technology that my team used. But the learning is not an individual effort. My project team, and other mentors in the organization all helped me become a more confident developer, and I am always grateful to be a part of such a supportive community.
• Diana: I would say that Sandbox is a super fun club to be apart of and very rewarding! There are some of the most kind and generous people in this organization as well.
• Daniel: Just do it!
• Megan: It’s definitely a commitment, but the community and friends you’ll make are so worth it!
• Chris: I would suggest leveraging the club as much more than an opportunity to become a better developer. This experience can expose you to new technologies, development patterns, and ways of leading a project than can expand your capabilities far beyond purely technical skills. It can also help you figure out if you even enjoy working as a developer. I'd suggest approaching the club with the intention of making connections with members and learning as much as possible from it.