My First Internship: A Journey of Code, Challenges, and Growth

5 years ago

Over a few months at LiveWall Group BV, I dove headfirst into the world of backend development, tackling challenges, learning new tech, and working on some pretty cool projects.

LiveWall had recently adopted the Laravel framework for many of its projects. However, performance bottlenecks became apparent when handling high user traffic, particularly for applications like “Man Of The Match,” where the system needed to process over 10,000 requests in a span of minutes. My primary objective was clear: find a more efficient framework that could support large-scale performance requirements and deliver a boilerplate and documentation to streamline future projects.

Spoiler alert: We ended up going with Express.js, a Node.js framework that’s as fast as it is flexible. It was a perfect fit for what LiveWall needed. And I created a boilerplate for this framework which is still being used to this day for all the projects of team Engagement.

While the framework research was my main gig, I also got to work on a ton of side projects, 17 to be exact. Some of the most fun ones included:
- DPG Speler van de Wedstrijd: Developing APIs and managing match data.
- StukTV Website: Adding features for video content and viewer submissions.
- Legacy of Music: Building a dynamic comment section with moderator tools.
- McDonald's Games: Creating leaderboards for Belgian and Spanish campaigns.
- Donald Duck Personalized Comic: Letting users create their own comic strip, with over 13,000 registrations in the first week!

These projects weren’t just fun, they were incredibly educational. From setting up APIs to dealing with legacy code, each task helped me level up my skills.

One of the biggest lessons I learned was the value of flexibility and clear communication. Using Scrum helped me adapt to evolving project needs, and open communication with the team ensured we avoided misalignment in project requirements.

The LiveWall team was amazing: always willing to teach, help, or just share a laugh after hours. Shoutout to my mentors, the backend Platforms team, and the other interns for making every day enjoyable.

If I had to sum it up, my first internship was a mix of fun, late nights, and big wins. It wasn’t always smooth sailing, but every challenge taught me something new and pushed me to grow. Plus, seeing my code live in action was an awesome feeling.

For anyone starting their first internship, here’s my advice: ask questions, try new things, and don’t stress too much if something breaks. Every mistake is just another step toward becoming better.