A Day in the Life of TUES Interns

Greetings and salutations, dear DevriX blog readers!

Today, we have three special guests – our TUES interns – Pavel, Kris, and Emma. We’ll be talking about their internship, what sparked their interest in technology, and what they want to do after they graduate.

DevriX and TUES have a long-term partnership, and every summer, we welcome interns from there, since the school has a mandatory internship for the 11th graders.

We are always happy to greet the young talents, see what they know, and teach them on what it’s like to be in a WordPress agency.

Before you continue, you can check out the other interviews of the series:

• A Day in the Life of a Tech Lead [Bobby]
• A Day in the Life of an Executive Assistant [Vladi]
• A Day in the Life of a Tech Support [Plamen]
• A Day in the Life of a Project Coordinator [Reni] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Community Manager [Hrisi D] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Product Manager [Radost] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Front-End Developer [Ani] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Backend Developer [Emo] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Marketing Coordinator [Elly] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Graphic Designer [Niki] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of a Front-end Team Lead [Tony] – DevriX
• A Day in the Life of an Intern [Gabby]
• A Day in the Life of a QA [Kiko]
• A Day in the Life of an Office Assistant [Stefi]
• A Day in the Life of a Recruiter/HR [Molly]

A Day in the Life of TUES Interns

Pavel Voykov, 18.

Hello, thank you for accepting my invitation. For starters, can you share a bit about yourself?
Hi, thanks for the invitation. My name is Pavel Voykov, I’m 18-years old, and I’m a TUES student. I love doing a lot of things – I love eating, playing basketball, riding my bike. I enjoy dealing with all sorts of technology.

Also, I would like to say that I really don’t like the fact that our school principal will be replaced. She is really cool… even if she likes to yell at times. But she has a great reputation, and we will really miss her.

You mentioned technology. What actually sparked your passion for tech initially?
I’ve been around computers and various technologies, since I was little. Of course, the first thing that grabbed my attention, naturally, were games. My father used to show me some games he played. I remember an 8-bit emulator, called MAME32.

The infamous!
Yeah (laughing). There was an Olympics game there, which we used to play a lot together. That’s how it all started, in terms of software. Otherwise, I’ve always enjoyed messing around with gadgets, understanding how they work. In terms of hardware, I started through the process of getting something broken to work by disassembling it, and then assembling it again.

That’s how it is, especially in Bulgaria. There was this joke that when our car breaks down, we stop, open the hood, we take a long look at it, close it, and hope that it starts working (laughing).

And if that doesn’t work, you repeat the process?
Yes (laughing).

Alright, cool. Have you thought about life after your graduate – what do you want to do – start working, or go to university?
That’s a topic that we often discuss with my parents. They want me to go to university, so I can have a diploma. They think that the diploma is something all important, and I wouldn’t be able to find a job without one.

My opinion is that working during these four years of education, instead of studying, would be much more beneficial. Moreover, I’ve been told that in our universities, studying for a bachelors degree is more or less similar to what we study in school at TUES.

So, I don’t really see the point in such a repetition of knowledge, I think I would learn much more from working. Besides, I can always start a course, if I want to learn a specific technology, and I can also always roll into university, if I decide I need to.

Overall, the topic is still a bit gloomy, and I’m not 100% sure what I’ll do after graduation. We’ll see.

Tell us about your internship – are you glad you were at DevriX?
I’m very satisfied from this internship here. The people in the office are really cool, they understand your point of view. They don’t always agree with it, they have their own opinions, which is something I really value.

Everyone is open to teaching us, and I really appreciate that, too. I’m very happy that I ended up doing this internship here, at DevriX.

How would you rate it from 1 to 10?
I would say 9, because there is always room for improvement. I would definitely recommend the company. Besides, this is the first company I’ve been to, so it’s not like I can recommend another one.

Okay. What if someday you have the opportunity to start your own business, have you thought about that? What will it be?
I’ve thought about starting my own business, but I haven’t exactly figured out what it would be about. I have some ideas, although I’ve been told they sound a bit scary…

(laughing) That’s a good way to start… you’re not thinking about selling organs, right?
No, no (laughing). I want to start a business that isn’t strictly focused on one area. I want it to develop, and expand into multiple fields. I want to capture as much of the global market as possible. I’ve been told that that would be really hard to achieve, and I’m completely aware of that, but it’s not something that should stop me.

Also, when someone asks me what I want to do, I say I want to be the master of the world. It’s going to be hard, but I prefer it that way, instead of setting new goals every week. This is a goal that I will follow throughout my life.

It appears as though I’m talking with the heir of Elon Musk… Well, who knows, I wish you luck in your endeavors, and don’t forget about this interview, if you achieve your goals (laughing).

Thanks again for the interview. Any last words?
I can say a lot of things, but nothing specific comes to mind right now. One thing I can say is that I will always remember DevriX, as it’s the first place I’ve worked.

Kristian Milchev, 18.

Hello, thank you for accepting my invitation. For starters, can you share a bit about yourself?
Good day. I’m happy to be here, I’m Kristian Milchev, a TUES student from the 11th B, system programming specialty. As for hobbies, apart from programming, at the moment I enjoy reading about history. It’s a relatively new interest of mine, so I’m kind of reading about the history of the world, in general, not delving into a specific era just yet.

That’s good. As we know, those who do not learn history are doomed to repeat it. Not that anyone seems to follow that rule, but anyway… Tell me about your passion for technology, how did it all start?
My mother is a programmer, so from a very young age, I’ve had access to a computer, as well as, other gadgets we had at the time. I was really curious about how things happen. For example, we had a DVD player, and I wanted to understand how you insert the disc, how the picture comes to the TV, etc.

Later on, of course, I wanted to know all about the Internet, mobile phones, and so on. I wanted to dive deeper into how such things work. So, when I heard that TUES is the place to learn programming, I decided to study there. I have very good impressions from the school, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a school that teaches about technology.

So, you’re, more or less, a second generation programmer, have you thought about life after graduation? What do you want to do after high school?
I would like to start working, perhaps half a day, while I’m at university. I would like to apply to the Faculty of Mathematics and Informatics at the Sofia University, I wouldn’t say I have a desire to go somewhere abroad to study. I want to study something more software-oriented, more related to basic applications.

Cool. I’m always happy to hear about talented, young people that want to stay, and develop in the country. Now, tell me about your stay here: how would you rate your internship at DevriX from 1 to 10? Would you recommend it?
I really liked the internship here. Sure, it might be quite dynamic here, and hearing from a lot of my classmates that having their internship at other places, they don’t do a lot. Yet, if you really want to learn PHP, JavaScript, and other website-building technologies, DevriX is the place. Here, you will really work, and learn, instead of just carrying out an internship for the sake of it.

So, I would say it’s really nice here. The office is cool, the atmosphere is good. I would rate it with 9 out of 10.

Thanks for the pleasant words. Have you thought about starting your own business, if you have the opportunity to do so one day?
I’ve never really had the desire to command people, to be a manager. I would rather create an organization to help others, something that would be of advantage to everyone.

Non-profits also count, yeah. Why not even a tech-oriented NPO that could solve important society issues. Think about it. Thank you for the interview, again. Say something for goodbye?
I have a lot of work to do, and only 3 hours to do it. Thank you!

Emiliana Petrenko, 17.

Hello, thank you for accepting my invitation. For starters, can you share a bit about yourself?
I am grateful for the invitation. My name is Emiliana Petrenko, 17-years old, and I study at TUES. My hobbies include programming, and spending time in nature with friends and family. I love hiking, it’s really relaxing, especially in the summer.

Nice. What sparked your interest in technology?
I’ve always had an interest in tech. In Bulgaria, we have a special ritual called “proshtapulnik”, which is a gathering to celebrate the first steps made by a child. During that ritual, friends, and family place different objects on the ground, and whatever the child goes to, will supposedly be their profession. I went towards the computer mouse (laughing), and my mother has told me that above my crib, instead of baby toys, my dad used to hand keyboards, cables, computer mice…

My dad worked in IT, which additionally grew my interest in tech, I suppose. I wanted to create computer games, but I abandoned that plan, once I realized that I would need a lot of math to do so. Also, I wanted to prove to my sister that it’s not that hard in TUES… which I don’t know if I managed to prove, but at least I proved it to myself, and that’s what matters.

I agree. What about life after high school, have you thought about it? What do you want to do?
After I graduate from high school, I want to continue my education in a university, if possible one that has an Embedded specialty, because that’s a field that is fascinating to me, and I would eventually like to work in that in the future. Apart from university, I suppose that I will start a job, it’s inevitable at the moment.

How would you describe your stay here, would you recommend it? Rate your internship experience from 1 to 10.
I like the extremes, so I would say 10/10, although, I must admit that in the beginning, I felt a bit odd, knowing that I would have my internship here, because, as I mentioned, Embedded is my favorite technology.

However, I did manage to do a lot of work at DevriX, I learned a new programming language – PHP, and it was quite interesting. On top of that, during the last two days, I also got to do a few different things, which were strange. It was a bit tense, yet very pleasant.

I thought I wouldn’t enjoy coming here, but I was wrong. I would certainly recommend DevriX, especially if someone is interested in web development.

I’m happy to hear that, and I’m curious to learn what type of business you would start, if you had the opportunity? Have you thought about it?
Well, it would be, more or less, Embedded-oriented (no surprises here). Perhaps, something connected to robots that would help people with their daily routines. I’m really fascinated by how they work. For example, I thought about creating a robot that would clean the rubbish on the streets, as part of my school thesis in the 12th grade.

Of course, it won’t be that great of a change, but it’s still a change, and that makes me happy. So, eventually, a company with little robots all around, sounds cool to me.

Eco-robots. Okay. Hopefully, it won’t end like Terminator…
(laughing). Hopefully.

Alright, cool. Again, thanks for the interview. Any last words?
The dogs here are really cool, you have to come and see them (laughing).