Meet Rhea Mukherjee, an intern who worked with Modularis last summer.
Rhea is extraordinary. She showed high levels of drive and interest, and a passion to learn and to share, which was quite uplifting to the whole team—we learned as much from Rhea as she did from us.
A.J. Singh, CEO
What was your role at Modularis?
I was a summer intern at Modularis between my sophomore and junior year. I worked primarily with the software development and engineering teams, so I spent a lot of time working directly with Jennifer Sanchez.
How did you hear about Modularis?
I had been looking for an internship for a while and had been struggling since most companies are looking for college students. My dad knows A.J. through work; he was talking to A.J. and Jaime about my interest in getting an internship, so they decided to invite me to intern with them.
What motivated you or made you decide to take an internship with Modularis?
I have been interested in technology for years. It was freshman year when I started learning more about cybersecurity and how much of our personal information is readily available on the internet. It opened my eyes to the world being full of technology and piqued my interest.
It was my goal to show Rhea how incredible software development is. When she told me about her decision to pursue this career path, I couldn’t help but feel proud. Without a question, she will go far in this industry.
Jennifer Sanchez, Senior Software Engineer
Tell us about your school experience. What kinds of things are you studying? What’s your favorite subject?
I’m a junior, and this is my first year back in the building full time because of the pandemic. I have taken a computer science class every year of high school. This year’s course is on mobile app development and it’s by far my favorite class so far! It’s so cool to create something that other people will see and use; the fact that I coded it, created it, is really exciting for me.
What kinds of projects did you work on at Modularis? Do you have any in particular you enjoyed or learned the most from?
I got to work on software projects at Modularis. I learned about software design, the engineering aspect, and got to help create a web app! I worked with Jennifer Sanchez on the software pieces and Wilmer Molina on the UI/UX. Developing and building an app was incredibly meaningful since I got to see my own creation. I also learned about software testing. I was able to use my firsthand-user experience to help Modularis improve their product, which helped me think more intuitively about app development.
We need more women in technology and we want to nurture them and for them to have the best shot. And as such, we took Rhea’s training really seriously. It was a huge responsibility for Modularis—giving a young person not only direction in the technical sense but also helping her find her path in the right direction.
A.J. Singh, CEO
What was your experience like working with your Modularis colleagues?
I loved that I was never bored! Jennifer and Wilmer taught me so much, and gave me opportunities to do research and participate with the team. I loved my morning check-ins with Jennifer, learning more about Colombia and the culture there, especially since I have been learning to speak Spanish in school. Modularis opened me up to the real world of coding outside of school.
How do you think your internship has shaped what you’d like to study, or a career path you might try, in the future?
I’ve always leaned toward the “tech” in STEM, so my internship drove home that I’m heading in the right direction. I’m more excited for my future with coding now that I’ve had the experience with Modularis.
Working with Modularis directly contributed to jump-starting my junior year computer science class project! We got to design our own app for class, and everything I learned throughout the summer put me so far ahead of where I would have been otherwise.
Do you or your friends have opinions about women in tech and what that career looks like for you?
I’ve noticed that there are more girls interested in STEM classes now than a few years ago. My generation has grown up with more messaging around girls in STEM, so women in tech are a normal idea for us. Freshman year there weren’t a ton of other girls in STEM classes, but there are a lot more now.
What do you want people (in particular students/future interns who may be interested in tech) to know about Modularis and your experience there?
What’s really cool about Modularis is that there isn’t a specific path you have to go down for their internship. It was personalized and based on what I was interested in, what I knew already, and what I was focused on learning. I don’t think I would have gotten this experience anywhere else, especially the projects I was able to work on, like building an app.
Tell us about your life outside of school and summer internships. Family life? Friend life? Hobbies? Hidden talents?
I play the saxophone and have for eight years. I’m in my third year of debate. I love debate because I appreciate when people take the time to listen, especially in today’s climate. I adore hanging out with my friends; we’ve all been friends for eight or nine years. I also love watching TV; right now one of my favorite shows is Criminal Minds because of the tech girl’s super-cool coding skills. I’m already thinking about my next summer internship. I’m considering looking at political or public policy-related options to build out my resume as I start to apply for colleges.