Summer Internship: Week 1

Week 1:

Current Week Objectives - During the first three days of my first week, I had to attend mandatory orientation for all new interns. The orientation consisted of learning more about the company, participating in team building exercises, and being debriefed on the current project I will be working on. I was assigned to Mid-Tier on the project, which involves programming in Java.

Current Week Accomplishments/Hours Worked - Due to the software not being previously installed on my work computer, I was unable to contribute to the team project during the first week. I had to submit a request to get the IDE, Spring Tools Suite (Eclipse with a Spring Framework) installed before I could start working.

Hours Worked: I completed a total of 23 hours during my first week (May 28th - May 30th).

Next Week Objectives - Next week I will attend my first Scrum meeting with my team. I was unable to do so this week due to intern meetings and orientation. I will find out my responsibilities and what my position in Mid-Tier entails.

Key Lessons Learned/New Skills Acquired- I learned a lot about Vanguard as a whole, and how seriously they take their mission. They are dedicated to their clients and the structure of their company proves it. Unlike other companies, Vanguard is client-owned. This means Vanguard clients own Vanguard funds, which in turn own the company. There are no third party management companies, which enables Vanguard to keep their management costs low. The better they perform, the more money the company takes in. This structure persuades the company to genuinely help their clients. I hope to learn more and improve my skill set in the coming weeks.