Growing with Tech
As of a child of the 90’s, there was rarely a moment where I am not using technology in some way. I remember getting my first handheld gaming console when I was 6, and was so excited that I spent the next 24 hours playing Pokemon, trying to catch them all. Couple of years, I built my first computer at the age of 13. It had neither the most expensive or latest parts or OS, but it was built by my hands, and was something that I was really proud of. As my appreciation for technology grew, I started wondering how does everything works. Why does pressing the A button make this plumber jump over fungus? How do computers connect to the internet? How is my phone able to play “Gangnam Style” whenever and wherever I want? Looking back, it is no surprise that I became a programmer.
The Road to Infosys
As a young pre college student, I thought being an engineer made sense. My grades for both Physics and Math were fairly high, and it seemed like a safe choice for me. After entering college, I began to realize that my comprehension for the sciences and complex mathematic formulas was barely enough to keep me within passing grades. As a prerequisite for all engineers, we were all required to take a programming course in our 2nd year, in my case Python. To my surprise, I found myself ahead all of my other class members, teaching, and even helping my fellow classmates. Seeing my potential in this new field, I took a leap of faith, moved to a school closer to home, changed my major to a Management Information System major, learned to use SQL, HTML, and Python, and graduated in 2018.
After about a month of job searching, I came across Infosys job application on LinkedIn. To be completely honest, I have never heard about this company until just then. They were looking for fresh college grads with some experience with coding and language writing skills. I sent in my resume, not expecting too much, as I had with other companies, but was surprised to receive an email the following week. Excited, and panicking slightly, I began doing my research on this company that has taken interest of me. Being the 2nd largest company in India, working with big names like Microsoft, Google, IBM, and Adobe, plus they were willing to provide training for all new hires, I became ecstatic, and was excited to schedule my interview. Then as on the 27th of Aug, 2018, I became a new Infosys Trainee.
The Hartford Team
At the beginning of our training session, it was quite awkward. We were all relatively shy individuals, but slowly began showing of weird, wacky and fun personalities. During the actual training, we would help one another, teach one another, and push each other, for better or for worse, to be who we are today. Outside of work and training, we have fun, slam a few drinks, and enjoy life together. Each of us have our own stories, and we share these experiences with each other, connecting us, and becoming a strong unit. Never could have asked for a better team to be working with.
Navigation towards the Future
To be completely honest, I do not believe that my skills as the programmer were the best compared to the other trainees. However, Infosys’s motto, Navigate Your Next, resonated with me. This motto is not just a promise to the clients, to provide the best digital services possible, but also a reminder to all Infosys team members to never stop learning. In an ever changing industry, where new and better programs, applications, and hardware are coming out of the wood works, there is always an opportunity to learn more and become a better version of yourself. This has been the core of my beliefs ever since joining the company.
After our Basic training had been completed in the end of October of 2018, we have been taken into another training session to learn about application development and design using ServiceNow. Additionally, I have taken any free time I have to hone my newly acquired skills, such as Java and Bootstrap, and learning how to use Go on my free time. Plus been pushing myself to learn Korean, eventually Japanese and Mandarin on my own. There is never no opportunity to learn here in Infosys, as they hand you so many resources to do so.
My message to all those out there, reading this, never stop learning. The wise ones call themselves incomplete and lacking of knowledge. Never stop learning.
