Week Two! and Three...
Ok, week two! Well, week two and three actually. So much happened so fast, there was no time for blogging unfortunately. I apologize if this is longer then you were hoping, get comfy!
So week 1 summary: ‘ramp up’ and choosing our project. Now what?
Meetings! Review meetings, daily update meetings, planning meetings… At the beginning, I spent most of my meeting confused and trying to follow along, but eventually all that trying turned into actually getting it! I took notes, jotted down acronyms (there’s a lot of them…) and other terms I didn’t understand and looked them up/asked my mentor after. I hadn’t taken a course in databases yet, so I was behind from the get-go. My mentor lent me a great database book (A Developer’s Guide to Data Modeling for SQL Server by Eric Johnson and Joshua Jones) which was easy to read and had useful background information. The lingo was sounding more familiar and I was writing fewer things down to look up later. Things were starting to fall into place; I was beginning to feel like this PM thing was possible!
This week was also the first we had work items relating to our project (well, work items at all!) We got to meet with FTOs (feature team owners, in case you were wondering) to hear more about our division and the product we’re creating. I also started working on my main deliverable of my internship – my functional specification! (spec for short). The spec is going to document what our project does and how it does it. It’s kind of an important document and I get to write it! Research starts now…
The team is still great, and still putting up with all my questions! At lunch, someone walks down the hall to get everyone together to make the trek to the cafeteria. There’s a great selection of food there, although I’m a lunch packer myself. And I’m sure you’ve heard of all the free pop, juice and milk that is available. Good news is it’s not only in the cafeteria either, the fridges around the office also hold all you can drink! Believe it or not though, all the carbonated sugar gets a little old after awhile (but the chocolate milk never does!)
Other, non-work related stuff I got done was getting my bank account set-up and applying for a Social Security Number (being from Canada, I didn’t have one already). It felt like I was crossing the border all over again, the strict and scary questions, having to swear what I was saying was the truth etc. Don’t forget to bring ALL of your visa documents when you go to apply for one, they are super strict about what they need to process your application. With my SSN on file, I get to apply for my Microsoft benefits (another perk!)
I had some visitors too, so I got to check some of the touristy things off my list. Went to a Mariners game, watched them break a losing streak and even hit 2 homeruns in a row! Spent more time at Macys (we don’t have those in Canada) and spent a day looking around Pike Place. Having a Starbucks around ever corner is very much like home (although the lack of Tim Hortons is depressing). The rain is still going but that is expected on the west coast, spring never wants to let go. I am still riding my bike to and from work, a good wake up in the morning. Even my little studio is looking a little better, got some decorations set up to make it feel more like home.
Overall, things are turning out great, both at work and outside of work. Almost nearing the end of the first month, and there’s lots to come!
[thepal] Just a quick note, due to technically difficultly setting up this blog as interns have to go through different hoops, this is actually posted just after my first month! The first three posts will be pretty close together, the rest of it will be space out correctly :)