This is certainly not the way I imagined my internship, but jumping in during a pandemic has certainly provided a glimpse into the corporate world and how decisions are made and operations maintained despite massive upheaval. Last week was mainly meetings and orientation, which involved a four hour Skype crash course with the head of recruiting and 30 other new employees.

Regarding my daily routine, I wake up around 7:30 and then login to my MITRE laptop around 8:00 AM. Most mornings, I have a virtual meeting with my director and my team, which includes about 10 others, all adults. We discuss our plans for the day, progress on projects, and questions that we have. It has been interesting to see all of the regular employees adapt to the virtual environment, whereas this is all I've known at MITRE, so in a way I think it has been an easier transition for me. After the meeting, which usually lasts about 45 minutes to an hour, I do my own work for three hours until noon. Even though we're not together, I am in constant contact with my coworkers via Skype and email.

This week I have jumped into my main project for the quarter, a cyber investment tool that will match customers with the right MITRE tool based off of their needs. I am building this website from the ground up using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. I am pretty inexperienced in web design, so there has been a substantial learning curve, but I am enjoying it. I look forward to seeing how it progresses and how much I learn in the coming weeks! I am thankful for MITRE's flexibility and support despite the challenges of the time.

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