The first time I visited Microsoft ADC's office here in Lagos was on March 27th when I was invited to the Student Summit Lagos Watch Party.
I had no idea that I would return to that building as an intern anytime soon.
On July 27th, 2023, while scrolling through Twitter as I usually do, I came across a post by Oyinbooke about the High School Internship program. The first thing I did after that was to text my sister, who encouraged me to apply, which I did.
The application process was quite simple, with some short essay questions about collaboration and why I wanted to participate in this internship. Additionally, I submitted a video discussing my interests in tech and why I wanted to be part of the program. After reviewing the application, I decided to answer the essays and create the video because the application was open for only two days.
The program was scheduled to begin on August 7th, 2023. At one point, I lost hope, thinking I was not selected because time was running out. Then, on August 4th, 2023, my phone rang, and the number displayed was a landline. At first, I hesitated to pick up, but I decided to answer the call. Mrs. Ilami called to speak with my guardian and asked if I would be available during the internship's duration. After the call, I received an email confirming my acceptance.
The internship started on August 7th, 2023. The first day was primarily for us to get accustomed to the environment and interact with other interns. We also had interviews to discuss our expectations for the program.
The internship experience was enjoyable, and I learned about Digital Fabrication, which was taught by Mr. ID. Digital fabrication is the process of using computer-controlled machines to create physical objects from digital designs. Under digital fabrication, I learned about:
- 3D printing: I learned how to create 3D designs using Blender and Tinkercad.
One of our facilitators, Baba T, gave us a task to write our Personal Mission Statements (PMS) and provided us with a format:
P - Passion
I - Interests
C - Cause
S - Skills
After identifying my PICS, I crafted my mission statement, and we were then grouped into teams. My team was named Team Lily, and the project we worked on was "Poor Waste Management and Land Pollution." As a team, we had different roles to play, with Adam being our product manager who assigned roles to each of us. My team consisted of five interns, including me and Esther, who were in charge of research. Timothy and Samuel worked on the back-end and front-end, respectively.
Before deciding on a project, each of my teammates identified three issues in our community that we wanted to address. After identifying these issues, we asked ourselves some questions, such as:
- What: What is the problem we are trying to solve?
- Who: Who are the people affected by this problem?
- How: How are they being affected?
After answering these questions, we formulated a problem statement that read, "The problem of poor waste management and land pollution negatively affects the community, mainly in developing areas/countries. Community members struggle with the poor aesthetic condition of the environment, increased land pollution, elevated levels of air pollution, and a rise in diseases and vectors."
We also had an MVP, and with the guidance of our mentors and facilitators, Mr. Samuel, Mr. Ini, Mr. Kolawole, and Mr. ID, we were able to program an ultrasonic sensor to detect when a bin reached its maximum capacity. The sensor was programmed to emit a beeping sound when the maximum height was reached.
During this internship, the programming language taught was Python. I learned various Python concepts, including variables, conditional statements, string manipulation and formatting, and lists, among others. I also had the opportunity to work on mini projects, such as building a to-do list and a contact book.
Overall, the internship was a wonderful experience that helped me improve my communication and collaboration skills. I would like to extend a big thank you to the software engineers at Microsoft who took the time to explain certain concepts to me and my fellow interns.
Additionally, I want to express my gratitude to Microsoft ADC for this opportunity. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of it.
In a few years' time, I hope to return as a Senior Cloud Advocate. Until then, I will continue working towards achieving my dreams.