I can’t believe the last time I wrote here was 4 months ago. Those 4 months ago I was studying my butt off, while stressing on finding a job for COOP. So much has changed since then. Second term for first year was rougher than the first term, as there was a lot more work, while also having to balance council roles of 3 various clubs and a decent amount of COOP interviews. But it all paid off for now (as in, still more to come, but so far, not bad at all). My friends all gotten amazing coop jobs, and for those who are studying this Spring term, they are doing great too. They say Spring term at Waterloo isn’t that bad because of the nicer weather and various outdoor activities. I’m currently in Boston working for Toast. They’re a POS company for restaurants. We create the software that restaurants would use to help them be more efficient and successfully. Toast really likes their puns XD The resting rooms are named after various spreads, such as Peanut Butter room. Turns out it’s because you can ‘Spread’ out in those rooms. hahaha. Even the salt and pepper shaker are in containers shaped like bread. Toast has very colourful walls, and wonderful people. I made a few friends already, though it will take more time to be even more comfortable with each other. But I know it will happen soon, and we are getting three more interns on Monday. I plan on organizing an intern gathering, as so far I already organized a movie night one 😀 We watched Guardians of the Galaxy 2! It was good 😀 I only watched the first half of the first movie, so I don’t have much to say when it comes to comparing the two, but both were amazing. And little Groot is adorable! The 2nd movie had a lot of funny jokes and action scenes (a ton of explosions).
At work, I’m learning a lot as I get to try various things (backend and frontend). We use intelliJ, as we code in Java, with the use of Google Play and Groovy. I even got to experience TAF testing and Java Unit Testing. This is because every time you write code, you must test it before sending it off to the QA. This prevents the QA from wasting time if your code doesn’t even pass basic tests to begin with. I get to add new features and fix bugs. Next week I’ll be working on their discounts team! 😀 We also do Stand-Up meetings, which are short meetings with your team where everyone tells the group what they are doing at the moment. I like how these happen because it improves communication and transparency amongst team members. My supervisor is also very nice, and he makes sure to do 1 on 1s with everyone on his team once a week. He really tries to make sure everyone feels comfortable and is happy with what they are doing. Also, I realized how much I love beanbag chairs, because I like sitting on this red one in the corner of my friends’ cubicle. There are also company stuffed animals, like Party Panda. The panda always wears a birthday hat; it’s pretty endearing. We use Mac Books and they are super nice computers. It was a bit weird at first since I’m used to using a PC, but the Mac is great too. I have a monitor and a mac keyboard, and it makes me feel very pro when coding.
As for Boston itself, I like it here. I reside in an older neighborhood, so there are a lot of trees and beautiful front-gardens. Some people are even making their own homes. In Boston there are a lot of historical buildings incorporated into the city, and it doesn’t feel super busy. Plus it’s decently close to New York, and I hope to visit there some time.
Until next time!
Carpe Diem 