The Google Student Ambassador Program is an opportunity for students to serve as liaisons between Google and their universities. This year the program will include over 1,000 students across 65 countries globally.
We hope that bringing these students together helped them to learn more about Google's tools and programs and build lasting relationships with Googlers and fellow Ambassadors. We strongly believe that this outstanding group of Ambassadors in Latin America will continue to utilize the wealth of resources provided to them to not only serve as liaisons between their campuses and Google, but leaders amongst their peers and community.
From playing in one of the soccer leagues that are organized at Google (in a full-size natural grass field), to playing laser-tag, participating in a sushi contest, listening to very interesting and candid Googlers speak just to a small group of graduate interns (speakers included Bill Maris, Google Ventures Managing Partner, and Kristen Gil, VP of Business Operations), attending Google I/O (don’t miss the Project Glass demo!), listening to Larry and Sergey at TGIF... the list is neverending.
And I have many other things left for the last two weeks: a wine tasting trip, playing with fellow interns a bowling game in Google’s alley (yes, there is a bowling alley in Google’s HQ!), going to a Giants game this Saturday with other interns, meeting with even more Googlers to learn about what they do and how they contribute to improving the world through tech...
I don’t think I’m going to have time for everything. And that’s a great sign.
Sometimes it feels that Googlers get paid to have fun. And, although it’s not exactly like that, there’s a lot of truth in it. Googlers are brilliant people who work hard to have a big impact in the company and in society. And they are lucky to do it in a company that deeply cares about their people. Working hard on something you enjoy while being taken care of is the perfect mix. And Googlers have it. And Google is better off with happy brilliant Googlers. It’s clearly a win-win.
- Pablo
Fun Google Fact: Google said in its S-1 form that it hoped to raise $2,718,281,828 in the IPO in August 2004. The number seems random but there are few things that are random at Google. 2,718,281,828 are the first 10 digits of the e constant. A bit geeky, I know. But we engineers like these things. Sorry about that! :)
My internship in Google is not only a learning experience, but also a time to make some significant contribution to Google. Apart from learning, I have also been working on my intern project. I assumed that I would be given numerous miniature projects and bug fixes as part of my internship, but my manager actually gave me the task of adding a single feature to the system to span the duration of my internship. At this point in time, I have completed my project awaiting to demonstrate it to the team and get some feedback, before submitting my code for review. In my mind, I keep thinking, "What if my project is accepted and becomes an integral part of the system in production?" That would mean millions of people around the world will be able to use it at one point.
It is such a fulfilling feeling knowing that you can actually contribute something positive to a company such as Google, something that can potentially enhance the lives of millions of Google users throughout the world. I finally understand what motivates Google employees to be Googlers. With that kind of a motivation, waking up on a daily basis to go to work cannot be much of a problem. Recently, I had a chat with a friend back in Kenya, and I mentioned how the office is full of cool stuff like the micro-kitchens, games and other recreational facilities. The next thing that came from her mouth was, "So when exactly do you guys work?" At that time, I didn't have a solid answer to this question so I ended up saying that people just get work done because you have to be productive. What I should have answered saying is, "When you are passionate about what you are doing, nothing will stop you from working..."
In Google, you never have Monday blues.
Fun Google Fact - Every Friday, there is TGIF where Google provides free drinks at the office and all have a fun theme.
The Tokyo office also welcomed the other Associate Product Manager intern, Aki, who is working with the Chrome team. He’s actually also from Stanford, and we often catch breakfast together.
- Rio
Fun Google Fact: The floor I’m on at the Google office has conference rooms named after the train stops on the Yamanote train line in the same exact order (since the rooms are essentially in a loop around the building, and the train line is also a giant loop). The Yamanote line carries almost as much passengers on its single line every day as the entire New York subway system does in the same time!
Aside from working on the Lollapalooza stream and other projects, I’ve been taking time to soak up all the great perks of working at Google. I can’t explain how wonderful it is to be able to walk down the hall to a fridge full of unlimited drinks and a microkitchen stocked with endless snacks, brainstorm project ideas over a game of billiards, and play with beautiful dogs every day I go to work. This past weekend, I joined over 1,000 ecstatic Googlers to march down 42nd in San Francisco in the city’s annual Pride Parade. What I thought would be a few casual miles of walking and waving erupted into an enormous dance party that would give even the best music fests a run for their money. The energy, love, and happiness that our group exuded is something I will never be able to form into words. I looked around at all my coworkers laughing, dancing, and grinning, and, for one of the first times in my life, hoped I was staring at my future.
Fun Google Fact: Did you know that the conference rooms at YouTube’s office are named after popular games, memes, and famous YouTube videos? A few of my favorite rooms include Socially Awkward Penguin, More Cowbell, and Q*bert. Our printers are also named after members of the Wu-Tang Clan!
At the airport, I met up with another Google intern from Kenya called Victor and we sat next to each other the entire duration of the two flights to Zurich. Just as we were about to land in Zurich airport, the aerial view of Zurich was breathtaking. Seeing how green it was and the “tiny” buildings, coupled by the very well laid out roads, I could not help but take pictures. Victor just had to whip out his video camera too.
I could feel the cold penetrating all the way to my bones despite the fact that I was dressed like a polar bear; if that was summer, I thanked God I wasn't around for winter! As I was taken to my room, for once in my lifetime I got to board an electric train. The speed at which it could go fascinated me! All the while, my eyes were fixed outside staring at everything in general because they were all new to me and was all so nice and clean. It was a rainy evening on a weekend when I arrived, one of those days when you just feel like staying in and laying around in bed. I guess that’s why there wasn’t many people in the streets as I went to my place, but then it was like that almost all subsequent days. I thought to myself... "I could get used to walking around without having to bump shoulders every now and then...”
The next day, I made sure I left as early as I could. Who would want to be late the first day at work at Google! Considering I couldn't remember the route I used to get to my place, I left 2 hours earlier so that I could allow myself some time to get lost a couple of times yet still make it to the office on time.
My first two weeks at Google were so eventful. I made sure I attended all the talks because each talk I attended made me realize how much I have to learn and conceptualize before I become a full-time Googler (my ultimate goal). I must have listened in on countless conversations by the Googlers around because there is a lot of brilliance flying around at the office and Google facilitates this by bringing employees together multiple times. All the employees are undoubtedly intelligent and knowledgeable. I remember once having sat through a conversation whereby an engineer was talking about the project he was doing, and he happened to mention about 7 concepts that I only heard of in theory. I have never been challenged that much.
It's now been about a month into my internship, and yet I still have to make inquiry to get my way around the office. It is enormous and well designed. By the time my internship comes to an end, I promised myself to have taken pictures of every corner of the office. It’s not just the office, but it’s the people in the office that impress me most. Just from the look on everyone's faces, you can be able to tell with certainty that all the employees are gratified. Everyone is cheerful and ready to say “Hi” to a fellow Googler or Noogler (new Googler).
Each and every day at Google poses exciting new challenges that I strive to overcome, while at the same time learning from. I have no doubt that by the end of my internship, I am going to have a hard time saying goodbye to Google.
Have you ever been to an event with 100 female computer science students programming together in groups? I’m proud to say that I went to such an event at the Google Tokyo office. As a member of the GLIDE community, I was invited to the Google Technical Workshop featuring GLIDE on a Saturday in late May. The event was aimed to encourage women in computer science to pursue careers in technology, especially in its creation. The challenge was to make a webpage with HTML and JavaScript that searches people using Google+ APIs.
I was blown away the moment I walked into the room. Not only was I surprised by the sheer number of female computer science students, but also by the diversity. I met international students studying in Japan as well as people in various grades ranging from bachelor to doctorate levels. There were also people from all over Japan, including a person who came from Hokkaido located more than 500 miles away. She had flown in just for this event! Despite our various backgrounds, the one thing that we all shared was our passion for programming.
After we split up into groups, we tried to dive right into creating the webpage but we quickly realized that it would be difficult. Some of the members in my group had never used JavaScript. None of us were familiar with Google+ APIs or had any experience programming in a group environment. Where do we start? How do we write HTML and JavaScript? What is JSON? How do we distribute the work amongst ourselves so we can all contribute? And most importantly, how do we figure all of this out in three hours? There was so much to do and learn in such a short period of time. With the support of Google, the search engine, and Google engineers, we were able to complete the page in the given time!
At the end of the three hours, each group presented their solution along with their learnings and challenges. We all agreed that it was a great learning experience despite the challenges we faced. When I look at the coursework offered at my school, there are limited opportunities to learn about JavaScript. We do not have the chance to code in a group environment either. Through this event, I learned the fun and benefits of coding as a team and the excitement of creating a product. I can’t wait to attend the next event!
Take a look at more photos on the GLIDE page on Google+.
I moved with my wife and son (see picture here - he is the cute one!) to the Bay Area because I wanted to learn all I could about business management and apply what I learn in a cool tech company that improves the world. The math was simple for me: business management + tech companies = Bay Area. This is how I became part of the class of 2013 of the MBA at Haas School of Business at UC Berkeley. When it came down to looking for a summer internship, I asked myself: what cool tech companies do I know that are improving the world? Obviously, Google was at the top of that list.
I am now a Product Marketing Manager (PMM) MBA Intern at Google’s mobile ads team. Being surrounded by such a talented group of people with a lot of experience in something relatively new as mobile ads has been an intense and rewarding experience so far. I am learning every day about an area that is critical, and will be even more, for the entire internet space: mobile advertising. With millions of people accessing the internet from mobile devices as their primary point of access, mobile ads become more and more relevant every day. How can Google improve user’s experience in mobile? How can Google serve the most relevant information and ads to our users? What should be the value proposition for all our stakeholders (advertisers, publishers, app developers, and users)?
During the summer I am getting to dig deep into these and other questions in the mobile space. From brainstorming how Google can improve its local-mobile ads offering to defining and measuring the metrics that are relevant to understand whether our efforts to improve mobile internet are being successful. So much to do in so little time!
But there is much more than work at Google. I’m running out of space in this post but I will talk about everything non-work related in following posts. There is so much to talk about... I could write an entire blog about it myself! Stay tuned to learn about some of the best perks and activities you can find in a company!
Fun Google Fact: There are 26 (26!!) different cafes in Google’s HQ in Mountain View and each of them serves different food. Some interns are on the quest of trying them all for breakfast, lunch, and dinner before the end of their summer internship! Any doubt why the famous Google 15 is a real thing?
The Google Student Ambassador program is an opportunity for students to serve as liaisons between Google and their universities. This year the program will include over 1,000 students across 65 countries globally, which represents 150% growth from last year alone. Last year’s class of SSA Ambassadors accomplished amazing things - as evidenced by one Ambassador named Biggy (read his story here). So, we can hardly imagine what’s in store for the year ahead as the program expands into new regions and new universities. We hope that bringing these outstanding students together helped them to learn more about Google’s tools and programs: they can now go back and share with their communities and peers to help bring Africa online.
Posted by Obum Ekeke, Regional Program Manager - University Programs & Outreach, Google Sub-Saharan Africa
====
L'Afrique sub-saharienne à l'honneur pour le premier sommet des Étudiants ambassadeurs
Au début du mois, nous avons accueilli à Nairobi au Kenya 148 des 170 étudiants sélectionnés dans le cadre du programme Étudiants ambassadeurs de Google à l'occasion du tout premier Sommet des ambassadeurs pour l'Afrique sub-saharienne. Ces étudiants, dont la plupart voyageaient pour la première fois en dehors de leur pays d'origine - représentaient plus de 100 universités de 12 pays d'Afrique sub-saharienne, notamment l'Angola, le Cameroun, la Côte d'Ivoire, l'Éthiopie, le Ghana, le Kenya, le Nigeria, le Rwanda, le Sénégal, l'Afrique du Sud, la Tanzanie et l'Ouganda.
Ce sommet de trois jours a permis d'aborder de nombreux thèmes à travers des sessions de formation interactives sur les produits Google, par exemple Google Apps pour l'Éducation, Map Maker et Google Search for Educators. Mais ce n'était pas là le seul intérêt de cette rencontre. Ce sommet a aussi été l'occasion pour les étudiants de tisser des liens d'amitié durables pendant les parties de bowling, les pique-niques, ou encore les soirées danse et cinéma. Le dernier jour, ils ont eu la possibilité de mettre en valeur leurs multiples talents lors de la Soirée de gala des talents. Au cours de cette soirée, les étudiants habillés dans le costume traditionnel de leur culture respective ont chanté, récité des poèmes et dansé tout en s'encourageant mutuellement.
Le Programme des Étudiants ambassadeurs de Google permet aux étudiants d'assurer un lien entre Google et leurs universités. Cette année, le programme concernera plus de 1 000 étudiants répartis dans 65 pays, soit une progression de 150 % rien que par rapport à l'année dernière. La promotion d'Ambassadeurs pour l'Afrique sub-saharienne de l'an passé a accompli des choses remarquables - comme en témoigne un Ambassadeur du nom de Biggy (pour connaître son histoire cliquez ici). Difficile donc d'imaginer ce que nous réserve l'année à venir avec un programme étendu à de nouvelles régions et à un plus grand nombre d'universités. Nous espérons que cette rencontre visant à rassembler les étudiants les plus brillants leur a permis d'en savoir plus sur les outils et les programmes développés par Google et que de retour dans leur pays, ils pourront partager leurs connaissances avec leurs communautés et leurs pairs en vue de contribuer à l'intégration de l'Afrique en ligne.
