Week 5.0

The fifth week of my internship has seen a couple interesting things: First, a delineation between a couple of the roles I'm fulfilling simultaneously, and second, a chance to really take some initiative and run things without constant oversight (not that I begrudge the oversight; it is of course critical to the very concept of an internship).

To address the first point; I've had the opportunity to work in both a design role and a production role - as has been mentioned beforehand - but this past week has seen some true compartmentalization of those roles. On the design hand, we've had a dedicated design team working on the planning for the NFA missions, and along with that come its own sundry meetings/objectives/etc. On the production hand, as in past weeks, we have had our own set of tasks and objectives; what has been notable about this week, though, has been the fact that the two roles have had their own parallel paths - they are not necessarily all managed by the same person and I have the opportunity to force myself to schedule the completion of tasks in a fashion that is not a straight line of dependencies.

The second point is one that in fact carries much over into next week (and with luck, many future weeks). As trivial as it may seem, it's enjoyable to be handed the keys to the car, even if it's just to drive into the driveway - and in that regard, I've been tasked this past week with organizing some minor events: a couple self-run meetings and a few interviews (it was enjoyable to be on the interviewer side of the table rather than the interviewee; it is an experience I suspect I should enjoy while it lasts). Regarding the latter, I was able to be the sole point of contact (for a time) for some of the new hires brought on to the team. Baby steps, but I enjoy the added responsibility.

One great thing is that with the more specific goals we're given, I can look into the next week with a clear list of objectives. There's always work to be done - to be sure! - but it is nice to be able to sit down on Monday, look at a notepad, and say, "Okay, I can get started on this."