It’s pretty wild to think that we’re finally at this point in the program: practicum! Of course, I never thought it would happen under these circumstances with Covid but I’m thrilled we’re here anyway. My first week at Metalab has been an eye-opening experience, to say the least. The first day started very calmly (better than I had anticipated being honest) with an onboarding meeting where I met my coach, Jeremy, a Design Lead who I’ll be working with, and Lauren, a Product Designer who’s gone through the internship program and is my designated buddy.

Every day since then, I’ve had the opportunity to meet a lot of super fascinating and friendly members over Zoom meetings. I’ll be honest – it’s been a really long time since I last spoke to someone else other than the people in my household so it’s super refreshing to speak to other team members and learn more about their roles at Metalab. In a place like Metalab where remote working has been the norm long before 2020, it’s very likely you’ll be meet someone in a completely different city (or timezone) as you. I’ve learned something new from every single person I’ve met so far and I love it!

In terms of work, I’ve started at a slightly strange time right as a two-year project is coming to an end which means most of the work is just wrapping up. While it sounds slightly unfortunate, I’m really grateful I wasn’t immediately thrown into the deep end, and instead, I get to learn what the end process looks like (also known as a Handover). While I did sit in on internal meetings and one client meeting, I was also given time to familiarizing myself with current and past Metalab work, learning about the different tools used Metalab uses and basically trying to expose myself to as much information as possible. So far it’s a lot to process but not overwhelming! I’m just excited I get to learn it at all 🙂