After all the necessary back and forth regarding the onboarding process: paperwork, hours, signing agreements, activating logins, and accepting invites to platforms for organizational communication, payroll, etc., here is an introduction to what my internship organization is all about:
In short, Groutrail is a platform that provides custom solutions for different establishments, which range from project management to customer relationship management to group messaging to a visual database for tracking people and processes. (This is the platform/site I was using while exercising my role as a College Bridge Coach, keeping track of students’ progress to effectively assist them).
The organization size is pretty small, with 6 seasoned members (forming part of the organization for 10+ years), which made me a very noob member! This made me feel both intimidated and confident at the same time. Coming in as a new member of a workplace, even as small as this, is pretty intimidating.
Fitting in often feels like a stressful process for an introvert like myself. Past experiences have certainly challenged me, so I was pretty guarded at first. However, I felt very welcomed into the team very quickly and I was taken into account in important conversations. Also, as previously mentioned, my supervisor remembers me from years back, my work ethic, and just who I am as a person, so she made sure that my integration into the organization was as smooth as possible.
All this also empowered and enabled me in a way. As a newcomer to the organization, I came with fresh eyes and had the chance to provide new perspectives. In fact, on the get-go, I was tasked with keeping a journal to capture UX/UI suggestions/observations when navigating the platform.
