Journal Week 04 — One for All, and All for One

Brief

Hello, this week, nothing particularly noteworthy happened regarding hard-skill learning or process practices, so I wanted to take the opportunity to talk a little about the people I have met at the office these days—not necessarily from my team or area.

What is the intern community like?

Honestly, I have had the opportunity to meet many university classmates during this professional experience. Getting to know new interns like me has been very similar to meeting people at a university: a lot of people who are here to improve their opportunities and grow in one or several areas. The difference here is that most interns went through demanding processes to join the company, so you know that everyone has a certain level of knowledge and an interest in technology.

Additionally, I was fortunate enough to create a Minecraft world with some coworkers, which I have enjoyed a lot. It has given me a better perspective on aspects of their lives outside of work.

What about the community in general?

It is more of the same, but amplified. I have been able to meet several people from different teams, either through fellow interns who are on those teams or through clubs formed within the company around shared interests. In particular, there is a coffee club that I have loved and will keep attending for a loooong time. Everyone is quite interested in tech, and somehow everyone has a slight idea of which parts of the company exist, which makes conversation more enjoyable. At least personally, since I have been here for only a short time, it makes me more comfortable when people ask me which team I am on and know more about my team than I do. xD

Why is this relevant?

At the end of the day, we are all affected by the environment around us—in my case, the Oracle community. Being able to see everyone managing their workloads, looking to learn more, and still having healthy time for fun inspires me to improve as an engineer and find that balance between time, interests, and work.

Learning and progress

I learned a lot this week from my peers and about what they do in their day-to-day lives, whether by exchanging blogs we follow or tech YouTubers we enjoy. I am constantly learning from them about how I can streamline my work and what I can do to optimize my methods.

Next steps

• Soft skills have been very helpful. I would like to find hard-skill applications that represent a challenge and an opportunity to improve.

• I need to move forward with my university intern project, but I still do not see any major problems.

Reflections

I have really liked the positive side of the community that I have seen in everyone, but I think there is another, less pleasant but still common side to being part of it. I have met many people with somewhat justified fears of facing problems in layoff situations. I think it is a topic that can be discussed a lot and that, as an intern, may not affect me as directly as it affects full-time employees, but it seemed worth mentioning.

We are going through several transitions, perhaps more intense than usual. AI is growing in capabilities, but just as it grows in capabilities, it also grows in cost. I think using AI is still like using a sports car: perhaps having the highest-end car and replacing older methods—cars or even people in some tasks—with pure AI can be effective in terms of time, but it also costs much more.

I think what is worthwhile now is to keep learning and improving. In the end, I think the trajectory of Big Tech should be more of a marathon than a race.