Summer Internship Series: Week 7

What I wish I knew before Starting my Internship

Tyler Delhees

While there are many small and large aspects of MRI that I wish I had known before starting, there is very, very little that I would change about this summer internship. Every fact that I’ve picked up has contributed to an incomparable experience and an educational journey. I’ve learned about departments near and far to Client Support, acquired new skills and developed former ones, and enjoyed friendships with other interns and employees. For the sake of this blog and honesty, I am picking one topic that I wish I had expected more before my internship: Managing time and obligations while working a 9-5 job, also known as being an adult.
My internship at MRI has not just impacted my summer and career development, but it has also taught me what to expect as a college graduate and young adult in the not so distant future. I began the summer thinking that I would have no problem managing my time around a consistent work schedule. No classes and no homework, just a day job. I was dead wrong. As it turned out, working a 40-hour week would not be a cake walk. I hadn’t realized that a good night’s sleep would sometimes be the difference between a fantastic day and a miserable day (6 hours of sleep or less results in a sufficiently miserable day). It also helps to get into a morning routine to get ready for the day. After work, I may be sleepy and in no mood to go about my day and make plans. How different the first few weeks of my internship would have been had I realized these facts.
Unfortunately, I learned a lesson the hard way. Yet, I’m extremely grateful to have had the opportunity at MRI to get a taste of adult life beyond.

Joe Call

When I started this internship I really wasn’t sure to expect. I didn’t know what I would be working on, who I would be working with, or what I would be expected to know already. If I could tell myself anything back before the internship started it would be that you will quickly make friends here and you aren’t expected to know everything, just to be ready to learn. My first week consisted of an orientation where I got to know my fellow interns before we actually started in Product Development. By the time we were put on a project, we had already moved past the introductions and were ready to work. Once we started working, I found that, yes, we were thrown on a product using technologies I’d never seen before. Because of MRI’s expectations, I wasn’t overwhelmed. I was given plenty of time to learn and look through the codebase. Probably most importantly, we were allowed to break things which gave us the freedom to change code we might have been too frightened to modify. All in all, I’m not sure I wish I knew anything more going into this internship. I’ve had a fantastic time here and shouldn’t have been worried at all.

Shannon Poppe

The top 10 things I wish I knew before I started my internship:

1. Asking questions makes you seem interested and engaged in your work. It doesn’t make you any less smart if you admit you don’t know something.
2. Proofreading your emails is not a suggestion, it is a necessity.
3. Mid-day walks outside are some of the finer things in life.
4. Though it might be summer outside, it is a consistent 71 degrees inside the building. It is smart to keep a sweater in the office.
5. Being an intern is one of the only places where it is okay to feel like you don’t know everything. It is your job to learn while you are here as much as it is to be productive.
6. Networking is equally as important as your work here in the long run. Introduce yourself to the person in the break room during a coffee stop. Sit with new people in the cafe! These connections are invaluable, plus also you get to talk to someone new!
7. This time is used to really test out what you want to do long term, so don’t be afraid to ask for additional tasks. Figure out what you like doing, and it is okay if you don’t end up loving your tasks. Just make sure you know what you want before you apply to real jobs. Internships are temporary. Full-time employment is forever.
8. Because internships are so brief, make sure you are showing up to work ready every single day. It isn’t fair to you or your team if you don’t do your best.
9. Your managers truly do care about your well-being. Utilize their expertise in their role and also in life. They have a bit more wisdom than we do right now.
10. Take the time to appreciate where you are. You don’t get to go back to being an intern again, so appreciate the data-entry and excel sheet clean-up. It will be worth it in the long run!

James Hahn

Before starting my internship, I merely had a general idea of what to expect. Little did I know, when I started, many aspects were different than what I thought.
For example, MRI has such a relaxed environment. With the implementation of common sense casual, I figured most employees would still be wearing at least button-down shirts, but I was definitely wrong about that. If I knew everybody was so fine with shorts and a t-shirt, I would’ve worn that during the first week.
Another thing I wish I knew about is how friendly everybody is! As a product development intern, my thoughts coming in were my team of interns would be the only people we would be interacting with. However, several people, of which I look up to as mentors, have helped fine-tune and develop my skills on a daily basis. Whether it was teaching me a new programming library, introducing me to a design concept, or improving code I’ve already written, there are plenty of people that genuinely want to help.
Third, MRI takes their culture seriously. In my case, I had never worked at a large business before. During the interview process, I was able to see that the company valued a fun environment, with the game room, basketball court, and emphasis on fitness. However, now that I’m here, I can really see that MRI as a company values pride. The thing that surprised me is that no matter what, you will end up embracing the pride because of the environment you work in.
Finally, it’s ok to be wrong. I feel like so many people have told me this in my lifetime, especially in my courses. However, I was always hesitant to take risks and have people think I had no clue what I was talking about; my answer had to be correct. Despite this, my realization was that my fellow interns were learning alongside me. If I had a question, then most likely another product development intern had the same question. This helped emphasize a superb learning environment that I was not expecting coming in.
This was just four things that I wish I knew before coming into my internship. I’m sure there are more, but these especially stood out to me. Obviously, with no prior experience, I only had a general idea of what to expect, and I believe my perspectives on MRI Software and software engineering have been impacted positively after working here as an #MRIntern.