The Amazon Future Engineer (AFE) program aims to increase access to computer science opportunities for underrepresented communities. I had the pleasure of mentoring 2 AFE interns this summer.
Throughout the course of the summer, they were able to hone their technical and soft skills while building a full-stack production-grade application for our team. Though they only finished their 1st year of college before the internship, they continued to impress me with how quickly they picked up new skills.
Though I wish I could’ve met these two in the office (whether for social events or debugging issues), they both raised the bar in terms of the results they delivered. Remote work came naturally for them, and communication issues that I expected to arise were virtually nonexistent.
I learned a lot as well. Juggling my own projects while managing these interns wasn’t easy, so I had to find a balance between ever-shifting project priorities and being available for the interns. I found that dedicating (at least) 30 minutes every day to syncing up on blockers and celebrating small wins was a good system.
Throughout the course of the summer, they were able to hone their technical and soft skills while building a full-stack production-grade application for our team. Though they only finished their 1st year of college before the internship, they continued to impress me with how quickly they picked up new skills.
Though I wish I could’ve met these two in the office (whether for social events or debugging issues), they both raised the bar in terms of the results they delivered. Remote work came naturally for them, and communication issues that I expected to arise were virtually nonexistent.
I learned a lot as well. Juggling my own projects while managing these interns wasn’t easy, so I had to find a balance between ever-shifting project priorities and being available for the interns. I found that dedicating (at least) 30 minutes every day to syncing up on blockers and celebrating small wins was a good system.
