Ryan C

My name is Ryan, I’m a computer scientist. I wanted to do an internship abroad program to be able to travel and see the world while not losing out on professional experience, so I think this program was really good.

3D Geo-Mapping

The experience of going all the way to Japan and staying in for so long, it was what I was looking for!

3D Modeling

64wks

3D Modeling for VR Software

USA

Why Japan? I was originally interested in the culture and seeing what is like to live here on a deeper level than being just a tourist, where you just go in and see cool stuff and then you leave. What kind of company did you work for? What did you do? I worked for a software company and I coded for one of their demos that they showed in conferences. It was 3D modeling and working on an application. Did you use any Japanese? You don’t need to, but it’s certainly helpful to know some. Mostly to order food or when going out, asking for help if you don’t really know what’s going on, that kind of things. Actually, you can usually get by translating on your phone or like making motion or something! What was your greatest achievement? I think my greatest achievement was finally getting the demonstration to work. It took a lot of effort to slowly even get anything to show up on the computer screen, so when things finally started visually appearing and showing some real progress it felt really good! I think it took a lot of hard work and a lot of learning to get to that point, so I’m pretty proud of it! How did you grow as a person and as a professional? I think that I became much more independent in my time here. I’m pretty much out here alone, so it’s a lot of figuring everything out by myself. Figuring out if I need help from other people, like just getting to that point is also pretty important. Professionally, I think I grew in learning what to expect in a working environment, like, what makes a good employee, how should you work well, and also work in a way to be a good fit for the rest of the team. Be useful and just play a bigger role than not. What was your most memorable moment of this experience? When I first came here it was such a different environment, the culture shock was huge! It was nothing like home, I couldn’t barely understand the world around me, so it was really like stepping into a whole new world. It’s a crazy experience that I even get to be out here, and I’m happy that I did come! How well did ICC do in helping you find a company? Pretty good! Going into it I wasn’t too sure what I was going to get, but I knew that I wanted to learn and that I wanted to code on a big project that I could see, and I feel like the work that I did here is exactly what I wanted. The experience of going all the way to Japan and staying in for so long, it was what I was looking for! Any advice for future interns? Don’t be afraid to step out of your comfort zone because it’s going to be uncomfortable. While you’re out here try new things even if you probably wouldn’t do them at home. Take a chance and try to explore the world around you as much as you can.