My Google Story (6)

Day 6 (5/31/17)

Hand-drawn timeline of Google’s growth in the visitors’ center

Activities:

• Attended last orientation workshop (about patents)!
• Met my mentor
• Received my project for the summer.

What I Learned Today:

• “Even if your project isn’t fully deployed or will never be deployed, the experience of developing it was worth it because it’s just another learning experience to better understand the technology and the industry you’re in.” — my mentor.

Lemon Ricotta pancakes from one of the best cafes on the MTV campus

• Google is the type of company that’s patient enough to invest in projects that may not provide immediate profit. When asked, this was my mentor’s favorite aspect about Google, and I would have to agree that this is a great trait to have in a company — especially from a software development standpoint. Things shouldn’t always revolve around profits — even when it comes to a large-scale business.

Reflection:

I’m most excited by the fact that my partner and I have chosen our project for the summer. Although I cannot explain much here, it thrills me that it has the potential for widespread impact to help others. The project also deals with technologies that I’m already semi-familiar with, but it’ll be a chance to advance my own knowledge. The things that excite me most are the possible challenges this project provides, and the possible impact I can make by helping bring this project to fruition.

I’m also excited by the fact that there’s now someone else I can turn to for advice about Google, internships, and such. While I don’t always know what to talk about with a mentor, I feel like it’s better to have more mentors than less. Not only are they valuable connections within the company, but they also provide different perspectives from their own experiences and backgrounds. I just hope that this mentor-mentee experience won’t fizzle out towards the end of the summer as many programs like these tend to fall apart towards the end.