One of the reasons I hope I get another shot at life after this one is so that I can go to college again.
Seriously. College was one of the absolute best times of my life. Since then, in my professional & personal life, only Microsoft has come close in "replicating" the collegiate experience that made for so much hard work but still kept it so much fun. (And I’ve worked for numerous other companies including Visa International, Hewlett Packard, etc.) I’m certain that that’s one of the reasons people (at least the non-jaded ones) work so damned hard around here.
And I’ve met so many folks that during their undergrad work, went to commuter schools or JC’s for the first two years of their higher education that just plain missed out. My freshman year alone was filled with:
- "Hey guys! Let’s go see New Jack City!"
- Nightclubbing in groups of 20
- Many, many sunrises
- Beach runs to Malibu
- BEER!
- Mudsliding in Nov/Dec
- Sourdough chili bowls
- Fighting someone 50lbs heavier than me
- Having the paramedics examine me after
- Co-ed bathrooms
- Group study
- 4-nights straight coding binges
- Jerry-rigging the washing machines
- Impersonating the kicker on the football team
- 104 degree fevers
- Roadtripping to Cal/Stanford
- Eating only flat foods & Diet Coke
- …
That’s why when I see these videos below, it makes me smile. Our college interns – I believe they’re all from Bldg 33 which is Windows Dev – have been creating these music video parodies of sorts, one every year, at the end of their internships. (Which by the way is a royal bitch to get into. Our intern program reminds me of HP’s program, which is what I did annually when I was in college. And I only got in because I’d gotten help from my next door neighbor when I started working part time as a senior in high school & proven my mettle as a STE over the next 4 years.)
I believe our interns stay at furnished apartments called the "Winterwood Apartments" or something like that. It’s a great place to stay for a few months – full kitchen, family room, bedroom, the works. While there they get to live the Microsoft campus life – something that I’ve never seen replicated anywhere. People talk about the Apple Campus… the Cisco Campus… the Google Campus. I’ve seen them all and none of them come close to replicating the collegiate experience.
Why? Because they’re all in Silicon Valley! Redmond, WA is so isolated relative to Cupertino or Mountain View, that you really are immersed in the campus life. You don’t have a choice.
Anyway, laugh all you want at the videos. Each of these kids are proof that youthful energy, is still running strong in Redmond. And it’s a good bet that they’ll all be making more than you & me in 10 years.
Microsoft’s College Intern Videos
kurtsh
Kurt's Thoughts 