At my internship, I can recognize that I am not everyone’s top priority. I have been assigned one project that is going to take awhile, and I am usually very busy with work. However, there are times when I have questions or want clarification, but feel awkward asking because I do not want to disrupt my coworkers who are busy with work. For example, I finished up the first iteration of my project on Friday and then had to ask my coworker on Monday what he thought about it. I felt awkward asking him what he thought because he seemed super busy, but it turns out he was already looking at my project and taking notes. Just asking for clarification was super easy and it made sure we were both on the same page. I will be sure to do this in the future.
As for little questions, I tend to try to figure it out on my own. By little questions I mean ones that do not involve my supervisor’s opinion or guidance, but instead are more technical questions that I can find the answers to online. I have been having to do this a lot more often this week as my program develops. My program has gotten to the point where it would be easier to figure out the problem on my own or with ChatGPT (which my company uses a lot) rather than explain my code to a supervisor and ask for assistance. I also do not have a strict deadline for this project, so I have a lot of wiggle room for trial and error.
It definitely helps that my office is full of really friendly people. We go out to lunch together every day and that is my favorite part of the work day. They seem interested in getting to know me and are very kind with feedback. Before I left I remember being told that Czech people don’t tend to “sandwich” feedback like Americans do. This means that rather than sandwiching harsh feedback with nice compliments, they just say the harsh feedback. However, this stereotype has not held up in my office. Everyone is super friendly and really appreciative of my work!
When it comes to understanding non-work related aspects of the office, I tend to ask my coworker Jane. She is a full-time software engineer from Russia who joined just a couple weeks before me. If I need to know where to leave my empty coffee cups or what room a meeting is in, I ask her. She usually knows the answer to my questions, but if she doesn’t, it is nice to be confused with someone else. She’s around my age so it is really nice having someone like her in the office.
The project I am working on is recreating Google Sheets in Streamlit. Streamlit is a software that allows users to create interfaces super easily. The thing Carvago doesn’t like about Google Sheets is that people can make edits without getting approval for it. Therefore, they want me to create an interactive dataframe that has the same functions as Google Sheets, but ideally it should also have integrity checks for inputted data as well as a temporary second table that all changes sit in before they are approved. It has been a long process of fixing one problem and creating another, but that’s what coding is.
Today I was really struggling with my program and my supervisor asked me how my project was going. I was honest with him and I told him that what I worked on last week is not working with this week’s additions, and he told me that it sounds like I am on the right track. He reassured me that a lot of coding is trial and error for hours and feeling like you have made no progress, even when you have. I feel like my coworkers really care about my success and are willing to support me in any way they can.
Also, this past weekend, I went to Berlin! I went to Museum Island and Checkpoint Charlie on Saturday. It was very beautiful looking at all of the art and very interesting learning about all of the history. Then in the evening, I watched the UEFA Championship Spain vs. Croatia game which was being held in Germany. Unfortunately, I did not have tickets to the game so I just watched at a restaurant, but it was still fun watching Spain win. On Sunday, I went to a Flea Market, the Holocaust Memorial, and Brandenburg Gate. This was a good way to end the trip because I got to learn a lot more about Germany’s history.
