Intern Perspectives: The unexpected tie between my internship with Veritas and foosball
The Veritas University summer internship class enjoying an afternoon at Giant's Stadium alongside program leaders.Over the past few weeks, I have been playing foosball with my Veritas University internship team; or more appropriately, I have been learning how to play foosball. Admittedly, I am one of the weakest links within the group, along with my team mate, Joe. But again, we’re learning.
I’d never played foosball before joining the Veritas University internship program, and when we first joined forces, Joe and I practiced a lot. We needed to. We’ve slowly improved, playing Rahul and Wyatt, daily. Up until recently, we nearly always lost to them, and sometimes badly. But again – learning.
It seemed like one day the tide shifted; our effort was paying off. Suddenly, we were dominating the table and won the majority of the games from then on. Within our Veritas University team, we were the best.
Then today we reached outside our team and played some of the UX interns – we got our butts kicked. We played three games. By the close of the third game we started doing a bit better, but still the loss was impending. We’d fallen from a top our throne of foosball greatness, and we were humbled.
Foosball and my Veritas internship
My foosball experience perfectly sums up my time at Veritas. Every day I’ve learned something new or hit a personal milestone, only to reach past it and realize I still have so much to learn. Being surrounded by so many brilliant people and challenging problems at Veritas has inspired rapid growth. I came to Veritas nervous about working in Silicon Valley. I thought I was a decent engineer and leader – and in my bubble, I was. But when I extended beyond my comfort zone at Veritas, I got my butt kicked.
At Veritas, I’ve never been the best engineer or leader in the building. I brought my “A game,” of course, and learned from the mistakes of yesterday, but still, there has always been someone better.
Learning at Veritas – a cross-company effort
The best thing about losing at the foosball tables was the interactions after the loss; those who beat us often lent a tip on improving. And you could observe and learn the tricks or maneuvers that made them great at the game, too. This approach applies to our work in the Veritas office, as well.
Veritas’ senior engineers have dedicated ample time to demonstrating how to out-maneuver those sneaky bugs in our code and be better engineers. The UR team, MBAs, and Veritas leadership always seem to have a compelling lesson to teach. Whenever I’ve made a mistake or couldn’t get something to function, there has been a lesson to be learned that helped me improve as a professional.
I’m grateful for the opportunities Veritas has afforded in the Veritas University internship program. And all of these foosball losses and engineering hurdles? I realize each is a learning opportunity accumulating in one big win. I’m ready to use the skills I’ve gained at Veritas to take on my next opponent in life, whatever that may be.
#LifeAtVeritas #TeamVtas #VtasNextGen
