My Journey as an ISP – Aaditya Gogia
About 6 months ago, I got a mail in my Gmail account from a certain company called Internshala. They were looking for Student Partners, who could become the face of Internshala in their campus.
I will admit, when I first filled up the application form, my hopes were not high, I thought I would submit an application for fun and that would be that. A few days later though, I got a mail for the telephone interview! I was excited and at the same time quite scared as this was my first interview of that sort. After quite a bit of research, that fateful day arrived. I picked up my phone and with a fluttering heart, called the number that had been specified to me in the mail. Megha ma’am answered the call and to my surprise, we ended up having a very lively conversation! My research served me well, enabling me to have a response to whatever question was thrown at me. As our conversation reached its end, she spoke those three magical words: “You are selected”. You can ask my family members if you want, my shouts of joy and ridiculous happy dance went on for a very long time!
Being an ISP was, in a word, fun. I was promoting a company I believed in, I was helping my peers and juniors by offering them advice as an ISP/keeping them up to date w.r.t. internships and not to forget, I was also taking part in the super cool contests organized for us ISPs by Internshala.
One experience of mine, in particular, really stood out and moved me. A girl who had just entered college emailed me asking questions about Internshala and the industry in general. She had quite a few doubts, ranging from how to get an internship in Internshala, to something as simple as “how to use Google”? Instead of finding this funny, I was touched that she was brave enough to ask questions that most people would be afraid to bring up for fear of “looking stupid”. I answered every question she asked and this went on for about two hours. In the end, she thanked me again and again for taking the time to answer her queries and added that it was rare to find someone willing to take out so much of their time to clear the doubts of someone they had never even met. I felt more than a little satisfaction that day and in my mind I remembered that none of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for Internshala and its ISP program that gave me the confidence and feeling of responsibility to reach out and help other students.
The experiences I had as an ISP, the fun conversations on our very own WhatsApp group, the informative webinars, the pulse racing competitions (I could go on and on) are so numerous that I cannot possibly tell you all of them, much as I would want to, so I will just skip to the end!
As my tenure as an ISP started coming to a close, I prepared to bid a heavy hearted farewell to the people and company I have grown so accustomed to. Imagine my surprise and delight, when Megha ma’am informed me that I had stood third in the entire program and I had the option to carry on as an ISP for another 6 months if I wished to. I said yes in a heartbeat, it was one of the easiest decisions I had to make in my life. I love this company, I love what it stands for, and I am proud to represent it wherever I go. So this is Aaditya Gogia signing off on this blog post for now, but you will see me around…trust me! ;)
About the author: Aaditya is a Computer Science student of Nirma University, Gujarat. He joined the extended team of Internshala in January and also, was second runner-up of Internshala Student Partner.
If you too want to be an ISP, apply here.
