Harun's Experience at Quirky
Harun Hasib is a Ravenswood Dreamer, and a senior at University of Buffalo studying Business Administration with a concentration in Management Information Systems.
Psychologically it has been tested, that if a child’s parents finished college and work a white collar job, the child has a high chance of succeeding following the same path or something different. “Success breeds success”. Growing up in an immigrant family where my parents work blue collared jobs, didn’t graduate college, what does that mean for me? Does that mean I won’t succeed? Is my path more difficult than others? Why am I worrying about passing my peers when I haven’t even caught up to them yet? Being the oldest sibling everything that I experience is a first in my family, I do not have a guide or someone to follow. I do not know the resources available to me nor am I aware of what a network really means. Then I was introduced with Work in Success Internship Program or WISIP for short. WISIP is a program ran by the I Have a Dream Foundation that matches students with internship opportunities at companies related to their field of interest. WISIP closed the gap for me and many of my fellow peers. It provided me with the tools and resources necessary to succeed in the fast paced, high competitive corporate world we live in. Holding networking events, professional development workshops ranging from mock interviews to resume building, I found that WISIP was helping me not only catch up but slowly start to pass my peers.I have been a part of the program for 2 years now and I took advantage of every opportunity that arose with WISIP, picking my mentor’s brains, listening to advice of professionals at networking events. Every moment has brought me closer and closer to my goals that I have for after I graduate college.
This summer I had the pleasure of interning at Quirky, INC. An internship I was provided through the WISIP program. There is a stereotype out in the world today that interns are just a bunch of college kids who sit around, fetch their supervisor’s coffee. WISIP makes it a mission to provide helpful opportunities for its participants, to make sure they break that stereotype. There is no learning in situations that you are comfortable with, you are simply not growing as an individual if you are comfortable. Quirky was a place where I was put in real world scenarios that a startup goes through. It wasn’t a lecture from my supervisors telling me about what it would be like. It was hands on opportunities where I controlled the reins of a project. And it was uncomfortable, I couldn’t bear the thought of knowing one wrong decision could cost the company large amounts of money. But that was a real world scenario that was a thought that I learned to overcome because of the experience and mentors that I had during my internship. I was given burden of responsibilities that every other worker at the company had as well, intern was not my title. There were no shortcuts, no taking it easy, and just simply working everyday learning from my mistakes and growing. It is companies like Quirky and many others involved in the WISIP program that really help me stand out. I am proud to say that I would not be the professional that I am today if it were not for WISIP.
