All about my virtual internship at Adobe

It is very rightly said that “You may seldom reach where you wish to go. But you’ll always find where you need to be…”

I’m an undergraduate student at Jaypee Institute of Information Technology in Noida, India, where I am currently pursuing a Bachelors of Technology in Computer Science. My journey at Adobe started with an interview call for the Adobe Women in Technology 2020 Scholarship. I’m humbled to say that as a scholarship winner, I was given the opportunity to intern at Adobe, and since completing my 12 week internship, I can say it’s been one of the best experiences I’ve ever had. Let me tell you why.

My virtual Adobe internship

I remember when COVID-19 hit India, I was nervous about the uncertainty of many things—my internship with Adobe being one of them. I kept thinking, “I’ve come this far” as I awaited news about the internship program, but I had faith that it would all work out when I thought about the amazing experience I had with the Adobe team since my first phone call with them. When it was announced that Adobe would be conducting their internship program virtually, I was thrilled!

I joined Adobe as a Research Intern on the Adobe Research team for an exhilarating 12 weeks of learning, creativity and fun. I remember that since I joined a week later than the rest of my teammates, I was really overwhelmed—wondering if I would be able to catch up to them. But my managers addressed my worries on the very first day and I was so relieved. That set the tone for the remainder of my time at Adobe.

I worked under Sumit Shekhar (Research Scientist II, Adobe Research) and Paridhi Maheshwari (Research Associate, Adobe Research) on a very interesting but confidential project idea, of which I cannot share much details (sorry!). But one thing that excited me the most about my internship project was that I knew that we were trying to create something that had not been accomplished before. I can honestly say that I felt like I was making an impact everyday.

On that note, one of the best things about being an intern at Adobe is the amount of freedom you get in developing your project. The mentors are always there to help, but the success of your internship is defined by your initiative and the autonomy to try new things. And even though it was a virtual internship, that never got in the way of accomplishing what we set out to do. A huge credit goes to my mentors, who were always open to my questions and responded quickly with the best advice. I felt like I always had their trust, which really helped grow my skills.

How we built a virtual community

A big part of why this virtual internship was amazing was also because of the University and Adobe Escape teams. Both these teams planned so many fun and impactful online sessions that helped us build community.

There were events like Adobe Trivia, Tech Quizzes, Tambola, and more that made sure we had a lot of fun. These events, along with others like “Lunch Ninja” and “Virtually Happy Tours” allowed me to connect with other interns and mentors across the business.

We also got to experience the Adobe Alchemy: Virtual Intern Summit. Through this virtual Intern Summit, we got to hear from leaders at Adobe, learn new skills, and truly feel like we were part of #AdobeLife. Finally we had our Intern Talent Show that gave us an opportunity to present our personal talents in front of entire teams at Adobe. I too participated in it and presented my poetry for the very first time in front of so many people!

In the end, I couldn’t have hoped for a better virtual internship experience. I gained so much confidence in my abilities, met amazing mentors and new colleagues, and learned so many new skills. The #AdobeIntern program really is a testament to everything Adobe stands for, and I’m so proud to have had the chance to experience it firsthand.