This is a post written by Tejas, the outgoing intern from Sandbox.
You can reach him on LinkedIn.
The Interview and Test Task
It was the beginning of Summer 2021, and I saw a post about Sandbox looking for an intern. I knew Kate, who used to work here at the Sandbox as a Project Coordinator, and I'd heard good things about the Sandbox. So when I saw the post, I was curious and intent on applying. So I went ahead and applied. I met Maria (aka the Sandboss) at the Sandbox office, and the first interaction was very warm. I had also heard from Kate that the Sandbox had a relaxed atmosphere to work and that I could learn on the go. After the first interaction I was given a test task to write a blog-post about the Design Thinking process, and the result was this post. After that I was chosen to be the intern for the duration of two semesters, and my responsibilities included handling the social media presence of the Sandbox, writing content, and helping with other things that came Sandbox’s way.
Work and Experience at the Sandbox
After I got accepted to the internship, I started working at the Sandbox right away as the course descriptions of the courses that we offered at the Sandbox needed to be updated on the study system of the university, and a couple of other things were needed. I think that task was a great one to begin with as it forced me to learn more about the courses that we offered, and I understood what the timeline of the Sandbox would look like.
Soon after, more work flowed and I started writing different blog-posts and posting regularly on the Sandbox facebook and Instagram pages depending on the events that we had going on. To be honest, I’m not too big on social media and this part of the job was challenging. It has been quite an interesting learning experience to say the least. I enjoyed writing much more than the rest of the parts. Writing to me transformed into a meditative experience. Just Google Docs, the live stream of lofi beats to study/relax to playing in the background, and I would sit and write the posts. (This is exactly how I’m writing this post btw!)
At the beginning, I didn’t have a place to work from at the Sandbox. Later Uku Kangur, who was my classmate and also worked at the Sandbox helped me set up a makeshift workspace. He had an extra monitor that he didn’t want to use so we simply moved a table, set up the monitor, and voila I had my workspace. I grew to love this space and I made it my own. I made some Delta doodles inspired by all the artwork around the Delta. However, I don’t think my art career is taking off anytime soon.
Working with Maria, and Yana has been a great experience for me. Initially, it was a little tough to connect with Yana, and she did tell me at one point that she takes time to warm up to people. I think that changed for us when Uku, Yana and I went to attend Design Minds, the Design Thinking Conference in Tallinn on behalf of the Sandbox. Later, we worked on some projects together like making the Sandbox Holiday Greetings. We both got our two minutes of fame when our reel of behind the scenes of making the greeting became viral (compared to our other posts of-course). All I can say is that social media is a tricky beast. When it comes to the Sandboss, I can only say that I’m really glad that I applied and got the opportunity to work with her. Thanks to Maria, I now have a fair understanding of fonts, and I also dream of sailing away on incredible adventures around the world like her.
So as time went by, I got extremely comfortable with the team, and in the winter we would go winter swimming with the team, and come back to the Sandbox and drink some tea before getting to work. The Sandbox would transform from a workplace to a cozy hidden paradise of a space for me. At one point I invited the team over to my humble dormitory to have some chai and breakfast after the winter swimming. We’d also have team breakfasts once a month, I’d look forward to these breakfasts that Annet Muru organized. It was simply a pleasure to work at the Sandbox as an intern. If I had to pick a picture to express how I feel about my experience with the Sandbox, and I promise I didn’t plan this in advance.
More Sandbox goodness
In the spring semester of 2022, I took up the Digital Product Management Industry Project or DPMIP as we call it. I took the course with an open mind and as a complete beginner to Product Management. Although it was the only course I had that semester, I had so much fun learning about Design Thinking. I had an amazing team, and we were out making ridiculous prototypes and experimenting. For instance, in the very first class we brainstormed an idea to make air travel more comfortable for passengers traveling with toddlers. We came up with an idea of having designated "toddler seats", and then came up with a quick prototype to do some user testing.
In the course we learnt about different techniques and methodologies of Design Thinking. I still remember being skeptical about the Crazy8 method of coming up with ideas. As a team we still tried it out, and out came ideas that totally blew me away, and I went from a skeptic to a total believer of the Design Thinking methods.
Over the course of the year, I wrote more and more, completed the DPMIP course, and I kept getting more and more attached to the Sandbox. I would say that after I wrote about the History of the Sandbox I feel so much more connected to the place. Yes, I am a bit of a romantic that way, but I do believe that it is time for me to move on.
“Learn and move!” has started to become my mantra.
What comes next?
In short, the answer is I don’t know. I think all students who are in their final semester get asked this question way too much for their liking. However, my hope is that more word and code writing adventures lay ahead of me in addition to incredible sailing adventures.
For the curious, the long answer is that I am currently working on my thesis and hoping to complete and defend it in August. One thing I should probably mention here is that I did a lot of writing in the past year. I wrote for the Sandbox, and in addition to this internship I was also the blog manager for the International Student Ambassadors of the University of Tartu and I was also writing for sTARTUp Day. All in all I’ve been going to the writing gym for a solid year. I plan to put all those writing muscles to use. So, I’ll be freelancing as a copy-writer while I look for work as a software developer. At the Sandbox, I will be replaced by the incredibly funny, Kristjan Karron. He joined the team recently and has already taken over some of the social media platforms from me. The show keeps going on.