A Day in the Life of Interns

Ever wondered what a day in the life of one of our interns is like? This series will give you all the details! Our “Day in the Life” subjects are Elizabeth Phillips, a Data intern and rising senior at Virginia Tech, Sam Gilmore, an Intelligent Automation intern and rising senior at the University of Richmond, and Devin Pendse, a Software intern and rising senior at the University of Virginia. Elizabeth, Sam, and Devin are located in Richmond, Virginia. Here’s what a typical day looks like for them.  

Morning 

EP: I like coming into the office every day. Usually, I wake up about 30 minutes before I leave the house, sleep is important! I always listen to a podcast while I’m getting ready in the morning, I think it’s a great way to start the day. Once I’m ready, I head over to the office. Before I leave, I’ll grab some ice water or if I have time, I’ll stop at Starbucks for a quick breakfast.  

SG: I come into the office everyday too, I tend to sleep in as much as I can, so I usually wake up around 30 minutes before I need to leave – but I really wake up about 10 minutes after that. I like to take advantage of the coffee at the office, so I usually make a cup right when I get there. Once I’m settled, my mornings typically consist of developing, catching up with the IA team, and our daily Intern stand-up at 9:30.  

DP: I tend to work from home, but if we have an office event like UDig Connect or an intern event, I always make sure to come in. On the days that I come to the office, I’ll wake up, make a quick breakfast, and head over. If I’m working from home, I’ll sleep in until the last minute and hop on my computer right around 9 AM. Every day, I have Intern stand-up at 9:30, and my project stand-up at 10, so my mornings are generally the meeting-heavy part of my day. After those initial morning meetings, I like to get organized and go through any unread emails or messages that I have.  

Lunch Time

EP: I like going out to eat – it’s nice to get a change of scenery in the middle of the day. Depending on the day, I’ll go with my mentor, Hannah, and the rest of the Data team or I’ll grab something quick and bring it back to the office. I take lunch as an hour to spend some time doing something for myself. I like to watch TV, read, check social media, or catch up with friends if I can. 

SG: Earlier in the summer, I went to the UR campus to grab lunch a lot – some of my friends are doing research there, so it was a good opportunity to catch up with them. More recently though, I’ve been trying to make my lunchtime shorter, so I’ll grab something quick from Publix or the Chipotle that’s down the road. Sometimes we have an office event or an intern lunch, I always make sure to attend those. During lunch, I’ll catch up on some personal work, get myself organized for school, or do some research. I’m doing a seminar this fall where I’ll have to present for a pretty long time, so I like to take some time to work on that every once in a while. Other than that, I like to keep it pretty lowkey and listen to some music or watch TV. 

DP: When I’m working from home, I like to keep it simple and make something from what I already have in the kitchen. I do like going to intern lunches and office events though, so when those are planned, I always attend. My dad works from home too, so usually we spend lunch together – it’s nice to be able to catch up with him on how our days are going so far. After I eat, I’ll head back to my room and watch a couple of YouTube videos or listen to music before getting back to work. 

Afternoon

EP: I typically spend my afternoons completing easier tasks – most of my heavy work comes in the morning, I also tend to have the most focus then. After lunch, I like to dedicate some time to catching up on emails. I’m not a huge music person, but I do like to listen to podcasts a lot when I work. 

SG: My afternoons are freer for me to get my work done. I spend most of this time developing. Sometimes, I’ll have an impromptu meeting with some members of the Intelligent Automation team – if I’ve hit a bottleneck or a roadblock, this is typically the time that I’ll reach out to them for help. I listen to a lot of music while I work. I’ve been listening to Taylor Swift, Bon Iver, and Mac Demarco recently – I like to listen to pretty chill music, so I don’t get too distracted. I haven’t always listened to music while working, but I’ve been getting more into it recently. 

DP: I’ve found that I get into a pretty good rhythm after lunch. I like to get my tasks done as soon as they come up, so I work pretty steadily most of the afternoon. Most of the time, my afternoons are dedicated to annoying my mentor on Slack if I have questions. When I’m working, I always like to have something playing in the background – usually a Twitch stream or something that has some sort of background noise. I don’t tend to listen to music though, because I find it too distracting. 

After Work

EP: After work, I like going to the gym or going for a walk – just something to keep me from sitting down. I’ve also been really into making my own dinners recently, which has pretty much turned into me cooking for my whole family. After dinner, I’ll take some time to catch up on the book I’m reading, watch TV, or hang out with friends.  

SG: I play Ultimate Frisbee five times a week, and sometimes I’ll go to the gym after that. Some nights, my friends and I will get together and play basketball – one of them is an assistant for the UR team, so we’re able play in the arena at night which is pretty cool. I’ve also been reading a lot more recently. I don’t have a roommate right now, so at night I like to take some time to read, watch TV, or do some busy work like scroll through LinkedIn, buff up my resume, or look into what I want to do post-grad.  

DP: Right after work, I’ll go to the gym – my sister and I have been going together recently which has been fun! If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll shoot some basketball with friends. After the gym, I’ll grab dinner and take some time to unwind before bed.