Work Term

Already, a bit over two months at Veeva Systems flew by. I’ve learned an incredible amount not just about software development, but also the culture that surrounds this field. I’m thankful to be working with a group of motivated, intelligent, and charismatic people. I’ve been given the opportunity to work on various projects, which allowed me to work on both front and backend to get a feel of the two fields. I’m glad to be able to experience this to give me a better idea of what to look for in the upcoming work term.

Culture

Aside from development, playing on the company’s beach volleyball team has been extremely fun — even though we’ve only played two games so far on a recreational level. It really gives me the chance to meet coworkers who I might otherwise not bump into often. From time to time, the office slips in a social event, which really helps break the ice between new hires and current employees. It’s been really enjoyable working here!

All in all, I can feel that I’m going to miss working here once the fall semester rolls around.

Toronto

Old Town Toronto is a lovely place to work, particularly in this beautiful summer weather. St. Lawrence is a wonderfully cute and calm area. Several friends and classmates are currently working in Toronto as well, so it’s easy to have a quick lunch to catch up with each other.

Food Adventures

Toronto’s diverse culture of food and restaurants is something to take advantage of. Here are some highlights from the last two and half months:

  • Fran’s: Its retro style reminds me of Mel’s diner back in Waterloo, but serves more than just breakfast food. I had to try their liver steak, which turned out to be terrific down to the last bite.

  • Bannock: I went once for their regular lunch menu and a second time for their Summerlicious lunch menu. For the first, I ordered a delicious duck wrap. For Summerlicious, I had roasted haddock beautifully crafted with some quinoa, jalapeño relish, spinach, kale, and pears. I would stick to their regular lunch menu for more creative dishes and to their Summerlicious menu for something you can’t go wrong with.

  • Kerei: It’s the go-to modern sushi bar just around the corner from the office with a neat option to sit at a traditional kneel-type table. Unfortunately Kerei closed down recently.

  • Oniwa: Another sushi bar serving Japanese and Korean dishes. Its located right across the Roy Thomson Hall. It’s a bang for the buck for any student who likes to eat out once in a while.

  • Sammy’s One & Only: Speaking of deals, this is a fantastic food-court eatery with five dollar breakfast specials. My meal was a large portion of scrambled eggs, bacon, and hashed browns. Simple and filling. Would recommend, but go early because there’s always a long lineup. Feel free to suggest some more must-tries!

Outside of Work

Other than work, I’ve been spending some time planning out a one-day Learnathon/Hackathon event for high school students at Waterloo called Tech Retreat with an amazing team. My team consists of a few classmates in Software Engineering and computer science students who are all very driven to make this event succeed. The determination and dedication my teammates have put into this event is inspiring and all I can say is that I’ve never worked with a better team. It’ll be the first time this event runs so we’re putting in all our effort to make this the best it can be. Hopefully this will become an annual event.

One More Thing

The only one bummer this summer has brought was The Global Hackathon Seoul cancellation. There was a MERS outbreak in South Korea where thousands have been quarantined along with 24 deaths. The hackathon was called off as sponsors were beginning to withdraw from the event while several other events were cancelled in South Korea. Before this, a classmate and I were pumped to be given the opportunity to head over to South Korea for a week, but we understand it was a safety measure to cancel the event. It would have been a fantastic event. I feel incredibly sorry for the organizers who put in an immense amount of time and effort into this event and all having it washed away by a situation like this at the wrong place and time. I can only imagine what it would feel like to be a GHS organizer, as it would be painful to see a relatively small event even like Tech Retreat being cancelled after months of planning.