3 Lessons from Emina's Internship at ZF
Emina spent 6 months on internship in Germany, this is her experience:
"Have you ever imagined working for a global company and researching high-end technology like autonomous driving? I did, but I never thought it would come so soon. After a successful interview for a job position in Škoda, I realized that working directly in the automotive industry plant wasn't really my thing. I could rather imagine myself researching and developing driving systems that are delivered to the automotive giants. During a regular mentoring meeting with my mentor Senka Krivić, I expressed those feelings and wishes regarding the direction of my career development. She suddenly remembered an internship position she could write me a recommendation letter for. That's how our mentoring success story reached its peak and my dream came true.
Emina in front of ZF Headquarters
I got an internship position in the R&D department for autonomous driving at ZF Friedrichshafen AG in Friedrichshafen, Germany. It is not much known, but ZF is a global technology company that supplies systems for passenger cars, commercial vehicles and industrial technology. Many systems and parts of commercially known vehicles we see and drive every day are produced there. I knew I got once in a lifetime opportunity I couldn't miss. Using it, I had great expectations. Through this 6 months experience, I learned many important life lessons:
1. Dreams belong to dreaming. Reality is always different and more complex.
It is often said that with high expectations comes great disappointment. Of course, I wasn't disappointed at all. But I did expect that I will see a complete process of making an autonomous driving system, which wasn't exactly the case - not because I was just an intern, but because I learned that designing, implementing and testing a fully autonomous driving system is even more complex than I could have ever imagine. Working on a just one, small piece of the puzzle takes even months which makes seeing the whole picture harder. However, thanks to the different teams and departments, I had a unique opportunity to see some parts of the whole picture. Seeing an actual implementation of everything I learned during my bachelor studies was thrilling and inspiring. The most exciting part was seeing that applying the theoretic knowledge to such a complex system worked. It motivated me to deepen my knowledge and further my education in the field. So, my dream to see and work on the autonomous driving system partially came true. It interfered with reality, but in a good way. It left me the urge to deepen my knowledge so I can see and understand the whole picture, and eventually, achieve even more.
2. Getting what you want is great, but not getting it is what actually makes you grow.
Being an Automation & Robotics engineer, I expected that I will at least get in touch with motion planning systems or something similar. Nonetheless, I worked as a software engineer in the Measurement & Data Infrastructure department. I was in charge of backend services, database design and implementation, and data visualization. My first task was challenging because I didn't have much prior knowledge nor experience. I didn't even understand what my task actually was. Other engineers on the project I was working on didn't have much time for me so they just gave me base instructions and guidelines. It was exhausting at first but I understood everything soon, I learned much by myself and was getting better at it. My confidence grew and the supervisors on the project noticed my effort and good work, so I got more responsibility soon. I was involved in regular team meetings and cooperation meetings with the other departments as well. I am aware of the fact that not many interns have had that opportunity. I am thankful for getting it and proud of myself at the same time. Therefore, I am glad that I didn't get the position I was hoping for. Because of this one, I learned something new and gained new skills which made me more concurrent on the market and I learned what I was capable of which affected my confidence and self-growth.
3. Even giants can be affected by unpredictable circumstances.
The whole world going to lockdown due to COVID-19 occurred when I was less than three months away from the end of my internship. I was finally settling down, got good at work, gained new friendships, got used to the city and my new home when everything went upside down. I find this part of my internship the hardest, but the most important. First, I learned that even the greatest companies could be hit by unpredictable occurrences. On the other side, I witnessed the way they are handling it. Not just the company but Germany as well. I experienced the organizational perfection of Germans (including the company of course) and I was stunned by it. Second, I learned more about myself. I realized that I can take care of myself wherever I am in the world and whatever the circumstances.
Work hard, play hard.
Of course, it wasn't all learning and life-long lessons. It was traveling and having fun too. I've seen many places in southern Germany, made new friendships, experienced new things including going to the ice hockey match, ninja warrior hall (yes, like on TV and yes, I got many bruises after this) and experiencing their famous carnival.
The whole experience was empowering, inspiring and hard at the same time. Nonetheless, I believe that only through hardships we can truly grow and find ourselves.