Interning at Enova: Software Engineering
By: Monica Curry, Software Engineering Intern
The days are getting shorter, the code is getting longer, and to my dismay, my internship at Enova is almost over. With summer winding down, I’ve begun to reflect on what I am going to take away from the most. Between learning new coding languages, experiencing the city of Chicago, and working with some incredibly talented people, there isn’t much that I didn’t love! However, the most fulfilling aspect for me was gaining new expertise and coming away with a much greater sense of the field and of my own abilities.
Central to my internship was a capstone project, which I worked on with three other software engineering interns. Together, we created an application for tracking code coverage on tests. Essentially, it allows full time developers at the company to see how much source code is being covered by a given test suite. I loved this project —building an application from the ground up was a gratifying process. Since I mainly worked on the front-end (which I did not have much prior experience with), I learned a lot!
Another valuable part of the summer was working with full-time developers. Although my project team was comprised only of interns, I interacted with many full-time team members as well. Before our main projects began, all of the software interns took on small projects to improve existing company products. Working with such a large code base was intimidating at first, but I got the hang of it soon enough. Getting to learn from experienced people is always worthwhile, and it was especially encouraging to be in the company of people who are not only talented, but also willing to help the (initially clueless) interns!
Overall, I’ve had an amazing experience interning with Enova. Obviously, I loved all of the events, the cool office, team lunches, and other perks. But in the long term, the best part of my time here was the skills I developed and the people I met. As my summer with Enova comes to an end, I am glad to be leaving with so much more insight and experience than when I arrived.
Finally, to any future interns, I’d offer this advice: take advantage of what the company has to offer, and I don’t just mean the free snacks! There are great opportunities to learn and interact with talented and qualified people. Don’t hold back, and you’ll come away with so much more knowledge and experience, both professionally and personally. But definitely take advantage of the free snacks, too.