Sun burnt

As an Israeli who has some roots in Iraq, I rarely – if ever, get sunburnt. Texas, however, has proven to be the Moriarty to my Sherlock Holmes of a skin. Or, if you will, the Darth Vader to my Obi-Wan Kenobi. I could go on. But I won’t.
For the past 4 weekends I have either been tubing, hiking, boating, or swimming. I’m as red as a lobster. I say this not to discuss my dermatological state – but rather to emphasize the social lifestyle that us interns have been living here. Every weekend is full of activity! This weekend for instance, I will probably go to the Texas Roller Derby; last weekend was a 4th of July excursion to Lake Travis, etc. etc.

I must also note that I am at the exact mid point of my internship.
So far what I’ve done is essentially talk to people, get the lay of the land, and scope out the project. We finally have a firm grip on the timeline, what we want to deliver, and how we want to deliver it. A lot of the past week has been spent on taking toll of what I’ve done so far and discussing the project with various parties and stakeholders.

I don’t think I can emphasize enough how long the process takes: Scoping out a project in a culture you are not familiar with and in a business line you never knew takes time. A lot of time is spent just understanding the acronyms. Dell has an overabundance of those. The rest of the time is about managing expectations, and getting the assistance, resources, and support you need to conclude the project successfully. I think the success of an internship project hinges more on the preparation than it does on the execution. We will see if I’m right soon enough.

A lot more of my time now is going towards analyzing data and work rather than learning the ropes. I feel that I have become significantly more productive in what is essentially an environment and culture I have never encountered until a few weeks ago. While the learning curve has been steep, I feel I have finally reached a plateau of productivity. I hope this keeps up.