Summer Internship at Amity University – Sonika Jha from Amity University Noida
Sonika Jha interned at her own college, Amity University, after her 1st year, and recollects how her chosen project title (cyber-crime) kept her going during her summer break. Sonika is a second year student of IT Engineering at Amity University, Noida. Read on to explore more about her interesting story of internship.
Just a week before the commencement of the summer holidays, some rumor mongers of my class broke out the news that a “compulsory internship” has been decided by the respective engineering departments for the first year students. Well, to me and my friends it came as another ineluctable havoc that we engineering students are used to and on a serious note we simply shrugged off it. But the very next day, it was confirmed that the news was no less than true. Ironically, I gave a scornful look to the rumor mongers that for the first time they had something good for us. Then what? As usual, a series of serious questions by everyone were raised out of concern. At the end, we were asked to make a technical project from one of our domain subjects.
This year I didn’t want to make my holidays mundane and not-so-happening like my past years of summer breaks, where I was preparing my holiday homework and spending time with fat books. So, I went on to do something creative and new. I chose my project on Cyber-crime. The biggest advantage it served me was that I had studied this subject in the second semester and our mentor had made this subject as interesting as studying Sherlock Holmes series and since that time I had become amazingly interested in this subject. After everything had been sorted out; I filled up the registration form and looked at the stipend column twice which printed in bold letters “NOT TO BE FILLED”.
Finally, my project started on 9th of May, I had chosen Mrs. Gupta as my guide, under whom I was to do my internship for the next 6 weeks. I had met her formally when I was lurking around the faculty cabin. She had informed me everything like how it was going to be for me while undertaking this technical project for the first time. I listened to her like a helpless puppy. According to the guidelines, we were supposed to come to college twice a week. In the first week, I collected the basic matter on my topic, by understanding the requirements and technicalities of the project. Apparently, being a novice in this field, I had to overcome my fear and the challenges which I knew were bound to come during my project. But in no time I charged up myself saying “there is always the first time”. Soon I began to revise my notes and Google became my best friend. By the third week, I had actively explored this virgin territory of my interest. My guide seemed very supportive and helped me to move ahead nicely. Cyber-crime has become a global phenomenon which has risen sharply in the past decades. After having read some worth noticing cases I was actually alarmed that how wily some nefarious people play with technology for personal interest.
The mercury was rising inexorably towards the end of the month and commuting to my college in Noida which is exactly 21.7 miles from my place was becoming cumbersome. But one thing which always made my long travels reliable is, undoubtedly, Delhi Metro. Unlike the regular college days, when I am always running to catch the train for being on time for my morning lectures, this time I was moving at a slow pace and observing things more peacefully. The buildings looked taller and wider, flyover and bridges gave a firmer look and Delhi looked busy and crowded as always. I became more intuitive as to when and how to grab a seat in the metro or else I would have badly punished my legs during those days.
The workplaces like school, colleges and offices look completely different during holidays with less people running towards their cubicles and my college was no different, it used to look dull and silent. I religiously used to sit with my mentor who never showed that she was burdened with other official works but always remained in high spirits for me. From instructing me well and helping me select my matter to timely replying to my messages and mails, she had always done that out of concern. Back at home, only two things worried me, firstly, it was the scorching sun and secondly, it was my project.
The term paper was to be an original work, so the word “plagiarism” was mulling me over it. Nevertheless, I concentrated and continued my work. The real challenge that came up was writing the matter brilliantly because we hadn’t done any surveys but had simply gained knowledge by reading about our respective topics.
By the fifth week, I had become well-accustomed with some interesting words like Trojan horse, brute force attack, data diddling, worms, encryption and major problems like cyber terrorism seemed like a big concern. With far reaching consequences of money transfer in foreign banks and other malicious activities going in the cyber world, my head was forced to swirl. The pop –ups that we see every day while surfing net which allure us to fall in their trap is known as phishing, no wonder how one can call such a bad thing as a fun activity like fishing. With the weeks increasing in number, my confidence and speed in winding up my project was surging high and by that time MS Microsoft Word 2010 had become my second best friend. I smoothly carried my editing work and gave my final reports to the mentor. The moment of pride was when my mentor said a big yes to my project which had come after several weeks of my hard work and her guidance. Slowly, I puffed myself with the air of complacency as Mrs. Gupta appreciated my efforts.
This project helped me to rise above my apprehensions regarding few things and made me boost my knowledge and confidence at the same time. Days and nights of genuine efforts were showing their color and soon, the college opened on a studious note, by biding a farewell to my learning days at the summer internship.
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