My co-op at Optum was my first role within Computer Science. Optum is a company under United Health Group, a very big company.
My offical role title was "Talent Development Education Intern". I was placed on a team working on a health finance website. As a part of my role, I worked on updating the website's legal documents and doing a lot of my own testing by using impersonating customers and employees in a content manager. There was a plethora of things to learn, such as the content manager they used to impersonate fake employees and patients to troubleshoot the website.
Because it was my first co-op, I wanted to take as much advantage of this opportunity. I met with different employees at Optum across different departments in and out of the software team. I was also getting used to the workflow of a software engineering role. There were daily standups and the team was set up for two-week sprints. It was interesting to finally be in a professsional environment, and I'm grateful for the opportunity to expereienece this while I was in college. My co-op involved a lot of self-advocacy. I always asked for more responibilites I could take on. I also did many things on my own accord to take advantage of this opportunity, such as learning and networking.
Hydrow was a big change for me from my previous co-op. Optum was an extremely big company. Hydrow was much smaller, having about 100 employees engineering rowing machines. It felt a bit unusual to have a software role in a home workout company.
I was working on the front-end of an internal website they used to use and manage their database. The database contained data such as user data, videos, and events. The company was originally using a command line interface (CLI) to manipulate data in the database. It was cumbersome and time-consuming, especially for the non-technical teams. The internal website I was taking a part in developing was replacing the CLI. The process of developing these webpages was very independent and required a lot of self-management. I took part in the user story creation, wireframing, and development of multiple pages for the front-end.
They prioritized quality, so I never had any due dates. However, I still managed my time well and developed the webpages timely. In fact, I was told by my supervisors that I completed the webpages faster than they anticipated. Thus, they allowed me to complete 2 extra webpages after finishing the work that was originally planned for the 6-month co-op duration. My work on the internal website helped different teams in the company, specifically the Workout Experience team and Customer Service team. I was estatic to hear how the internal website I worked on helped other employees and how happy they were to use it and not the CLI anymore.
I worked on the front-end of the internal website in TypeScript, React, Node.js, and Next.js. They had Next.js in their tech stack and showed how using it improved the performance of the website. Thus, I learned Next.js for the first 2 weeks of the co-op while refreshing myself with TypeScript and React.js. At Hydrow, they also taught me about responsive design. I used TailwindCSS and Material UI to implement responsive designs for the webpages I developed. A lot of the TypeScript and React.js I know now resulted from working with it and learning it during this co-op. Outside of technical knowledge, I learned a lot about the importance of collaboration in Software Development. I worked a lot with other employees from the back-end team and other teams outside of software, like the Experience team and Customer Support team. Hydrow gave me a valuable experience in collaboration, web development, and general company culture.
As a Resident Assistant, I had many responsibilities, especially with 4 semesters of freshman residents. Each semester, I had between 40-55 residents I was responsible for. The main responisibility was ensuring the safety of my residents. I answered any questions they had about campus or Northeastern, provided them with safety resources, resolved conflicts, and ensured the cleanliness and safety of the dorm. However, I also designed posters, planned events, coordinated with other RAs, connected with residents, resolved conflicts, and did safety checks for residents' rooms, among many other tasks.
This position had a lot of responibilites, but it was very rewarding. I formed a lot of connections, broke out of my shell, and developed my leadership skills. I also created a community that values inclusivity and respect for others. This was all done while balancing classes, homework, and extracurriculars. Being an RA was tough, but very rewarding.