Internships

There are always two ways of looking at things. One way to look at internships is to see it as a burden deliberately designed by institutes to make u work in the summers which you think is a resting time that you have earned by working hard (subject to disagreement) during the working sessions.The other way is to look at it as a learning experience, an opportunity to learn what really goes on in the corporate world and fnd out how good you are at it. I belonged to the former category till i actually did my internship this summer in a leading investment bank. One would wonder what technology has to do in a bank.But large organizations need technologists to handle there massive databases among other things. So there i was this summer in India's silicon valley to familiarize myself with the "real world". As there are a very few things that i have seriously completed in life(though i start everything with vigor) I had set my expectations low. It was the 5th of may when i started the internship and my word what a lovely journey it was. The first day was full of greetings and good feelings and i was made to feel an integral part of the firm. And whats more we had free accommodation for the first week and i lived life king-size.There were interns from other colleges also and having people of your age in a strange place is something everyone craves for. I made some really nice friends. Every day was filled with the anticipation of something challenging coming my way. At the same time there was a lot of fun to be had.We used to play fooze every afternoon and it almost became an obsession. The team that i worked with was very young,friendly and supporting . They were senitive to my weaknesses and allowed to learn a pace i found most comfortable.They had great faith in my abilities(though i never figured out why).I was allowed to handle meetings on my own which honestly gave me a lot of confidence.The people in the firm were very professional in their dealings and i gradually imbibed the firm's culture.The weekends were extra-special. We used to have something planned out every weekend be it an outing, go-carting, bowling or going to a pub(though i went there just once).As interns we were made to go to fun places in the out skirts of Bangalore which were truly memorable. We never got tired pulling each other's leg.Towards the later part of the stay though it started to get more seriouos with us having to wind up the projects that we had been assigned.A final presentaion marked the ending of our project and most of us ended up getting job offers from the firm.
Our farewell night was amazing. I danced like there was no tomorrow. At the end of the internship i was satisfied with the fact that I had finally done something substantial, some thing that was of some use to someone else.I would've missed a great deal if i had not interned.
They say success comes when preparation meets opportunity.So when opportunity knocks on the door- take it. You wont regret it later.