Orientation

Here are all the Explorer interns!!

So today was AMAZING!!! We got to Microsoft early and had to fill out a bunch of paper work and listen to a bunch of boring legal info. They did tell us lots of exciting stuff, and had previous interns give us advice on how to do well. They told us all about the activities that we will be doing over the summer like an intern trip to Mt. Rainier and Kayaking on Lake Washington. After that, we got to meet with our Manager who will be helping us with our project. He took us to our office where my group of 4 people will be working. Sitting on our desks were tons of boxes for our new computer!!! It was better than Christmas. We got to set up our own computers, which are pretty nice machines with dual flat screens and a 4 GB memory. Our makes all the full time employees jealous because we have lots of windows and a beautiful view, but its big enough to fit the 4 of us which is why we have it. Tomorrow we get our laptops, phones and goody bag full of t-shirts and other Microsoft stuff!! AND...I work in the same building as BILL GATES!!! He is two floors above me. My group-mates and I decided we had to come in early one morning and wait by the elevator for him to get to work haha. (We aren't aloud on the 5th floor where his office is) I was really sad to learn that every year Bill Gates holds a Bar-B-Que at his house for all the interns, but since he is retiring in June, this will be the first year he won't be having it. But besides just all the cool stuff, we learned a lot about what project we will be working on. I am in the Microsoft Business Department working on the Exchange team, which is Microsoft's Corporate Mail Server. There are 3 positions in Microsoft, the Design area which is called the Program Manager, the Developers who actually write code, and the department that tests it. Through my internship, we will get to work in all areas which is really exciting. My exact project will be to create a gadget for Microsoft Vista that will allow easy access to the Exchange Server. We basically have entire freedom to design and create it however we want, and our goal is to start it from scratch and deliver it by the end of the summer. So i'm really excited to start working. Today was sooo much fun and I'm so excited for tomorrow. We are going on a Scavenger hunt and have to dress up!! 

These were our what our desks looked like when we walked into our office.

This is my group, the Exchange Team

Unpacking!!

This is the view from my desk

This is the building I work in. Bill Gates' office is on the 5th floor!!