Hi readers,
Yes, yes, whew it's the end of May. I tell people I try to update my blog once every month, almost broke it this time round. Apologies, it has been a hectic time period: I finished my finals week in the middle of May, packed out and flew to Davis to stay with my two cousins for a week, and started my internship in New York the beginning of last week.
How is everything going? It's been going great. There is so much that happened and I have to get up for work at 7 am tomorrow so I'll have to keep it on the brief side, but first let me talk about my take-home exam. It was for a class called Computer Systems II, where I learn about kernels, operating systems, virtual machines, so on and so forth. It was a tough class, and despite the recommended two hours of the take-home, I probably spent closer to a combined of 10+ hours on it. I really enjoyed the class, however, because I remember reading somewhere that in this era, the successful people are: a) they who are the top on their fields b) they who have a lot of capital and c) they who understand complex machines. I feel that my undertaking with Systems II gets me a bit closer to being one of the c). I am talking about the kind of difficulty that is so difficult, but it's satisfying because it's so difficult.
Fast forward to Davis, where I spent the whole weeks with my two cousins and their two lovely corgis, and I tried setting up the balanced lifestyle (read: Finishing a whole bag of 1 pound of Kale in five days and going to the gym everyday) while trying my best to prepare for my summer internship and having fun with my two cousins. The week flew by, and then here I am, having finished five days of my summer internship with Atalaya. I am really grateful to be here in NYC and to have this wonderful internship. I tell my friends that the firm has all the perks of Wall Street minus the douchebagness; I work with really driven, brilliant, and type-A colleagues, but they and my supervisors are really patient and kind in teaching me the ropes.
My typical schedule goes like this: Wake up at 6:30 am, leave for work around 7, get to the office at 7:45 am, fix breakfast and start work proper. My coworkers would typically ask if I want lunch, I would walk with them to a nearby restaurant/salad place and would bring lunch back to eat in my desk. As per company's policy, if you work after 8 pm, you are entitled to order a delivery dinner, and therefore I usually get dinner around 7~7:30 pm, and leave office at around 9 pm. I reach my dorm at slightly before 10 pm, go to the gym, reply to my messages and e-mails, and head to bed slightly after 11 pm. Rinse and repeat from Monday to Friday! This is great for several reasons: 1) I still manage 7~ hours of sleep everyday 2) I enjoy the work, it's challenging and different for each different transactions 3) I enjoy my coworkers so much, if I had to be stuck with somebody for a long time, I'd rather be stuck with them 4) As an intern, I get paid generously, and the dinner policy helps me a lot 5) Free snacks and coffee in the office (read: Greek yogurt, nuts, fruits, hummus) further emphasizes #4 6) I still get to go to the gym 7) They barely touch my weekends. I just have to reply e-mails every now and then. 8) Because of #7, I have been meeting tons of wonderful people, exploring NYC, and hopefully see more stand up comedy shows!
On top of that, I am actually eligible to take a cab for free (booted by the company) if I leave the office after 9 pm, but I felt that I leave that late more due to me not being the most efficient yet, and I don't deserve that perk for now. Maybe if I have to leave by midnight or something, then I'll take advantage of it.
I am really grateful to my employer, and therefore I resolve to give it my all. I aspire to be of value to them as soon as possible. (So yes, my work is my girlfriend for now. I hope this answers your questions!)
I wish you peace and prosperity,
Rufus
No comments:
Post a Comment