My First Month at Amazon

Hey y’all! It’s been a minute since I last wrote here. I actually started drafting this post at the end of my first week at Amazon, thinking I’d knock out a quick blog post and be super on top of things. That... didn’t happen.

Now here we are, one month in — Amazon even sent me a little email congratulating me on my “Amaversary” (yes, that’s a real thing). So I figured it’s as good a time as any to finally sit down and write about what’s been going on.

From wrapping up an insane semester and a Carnegie Hall concert to starting life in Seattle and onboarding with my team, it’s been a packed few weeks. Here’s a look at everything that made this first month one to remember.

Before Day 1 - May 25-26th

Not gonna lie, I played this one a bit close. I started work on Tuesday, May 27th, due to the Memorial Day weekend — but I didn’t arrive in Seattle until Monday.

This was because after the semester I was wrapping up an amazing musical cycle with the New York Youth Symphony. In just two months, I joined this world-class symphony, practiced every Sunday from 2-6 and got to perform at the famous Carnegie Hall!

This was by far one of my favorite concerts of my musical career and I'm so glad I got the opportunity to perform with this group!

Less than 12 hrs later I was on a six-hour flight to the other side of the country! Thanks to my great roommates our apartment was already furnished and ready to call home when I arrived. Due to the 3 hrs jetlag, I decided to go to sleep early and get ready for the next day.

Day 1 at Amazon Day 1

I didn’t know what to expect on Day 1. I hadn’t met my manager virtually beforehand (totally my fault — you’re expected to communicate with your manager 1–2 weeks before your start date), and I only had two things to guide me: a welcome email with badge pickup instructions and my manager’s and mentor’s phone numbers.

To make a good first impression (and to beat the badge pickup lines), I left the apartment bright and early at 8 a.m. to arrive at the office by 8:15. After navigating to the lobby of Amazon’s Doppler building on the South Lake Union campus, I was greeted by friendly volunteers. I received my badge and confirmed that I had the Day 1 agenda from my manager — good to go.

Since I arrived before 9 a.m. — apparently not that common at Amazon — I spent some time exploring my office building, the Day 1 office, and the office of CEO Andy Jassy (yes, that Andy Jassy).

My first day involved setting up my work laptop, getting familiar with the onboarding platform, and meeting my team members.

Most of my first and second week was filled with onboarding sessions and coffee chats with team members in the Seattle and Portland offices. These were incredibly helpful for getting comfortable with my team, understanding our function, and learning what different roles at Amazon actually look like.

I really enjoyed these first couple of weeks — adapting to my new environment, learning about my project and tech stack, and getting ready for the rest of the internship.

Note: I got used to having tons of coffee chats, even when not required — shoutout to the HeadStart Fellowship.

Exploring Seattle & Intern Events

n my first month in Seattle, I did more than just onboard and commute. I explored the city (including the infamous Seattle Gum Wall) with my two roommates and new friends. I tried out several rock climbing gyms(Momentum SODO is my favorite), ate incredible food, and attended intern events.

A highlight was the first Seattle intern event — over 1,000 interns from the area showed up. They even hosted an Amazon trivia Kahoot, and it was definitely the largest game I’ve ever played.

Another major highlight was hearing Hilary Hahn perform at Seattle's Benaroya Hall. Coincidentally, the conductor was Xian Zhang, the artistic director of the New Jersey Symphony — someone I’ve performed with before! Even more wild: the second half of the concert featured Prokofiev’s 5th Symphony — the same piece I’d just performed at Carnegie Hall two weeks prior. Talk about full circle.

My favorite things about Amazon

To wrap up my one-month story, here are a few of my favorite things about working at Amazon:

🐶 Work Dogs

Amazon is the only tech company I know that lets you bring dogs to the office. I had no idea this was a thing until I walked in and saw a bunch of cute dogs... waiting in line for coffee. Sometimes my co-workers bring in their pups, and it honestly makes my day.

🍕 Work Happy Hours & Corporate Events

Outside of cute dogs, I’m always down for free food. At these events, we get catered meals and a chance to hang out with full-time employees and hear their stories. My favorite event so far was a team bowling night — I even bowled a turkey (my best game ever!).

🚲 Work Benefits

Amazon may not hand out as many perks as some other tech giants, but the ones they offer? I use all of them.

Besides the iconic Amazon Banana Cart (I'll snap a pic for the next blog), we get free transportation cards for buses and the light rail, plus a transportation stipend — which I used to lease an e-bike that I now ride to work and for errands every day.

👥 Fellow Interns

The interns have absolutely made this experience what it is. I recently met the rest of the interns in my org — despite being on the same floor, we somehow hadn’t crossed paths until Week 4.

Many of my intern friends are SDE interns or the Amazon Future Engineer Scholarship. If you're a high school senior, definitely check that program out. And for fellow college students, check out my post on securing a software internship at Amazon!

I'll close with one more picture from a happy hour… I don't think I can ever go back to college food.

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Whether you're curious about my internship at Amazon, looking for advice on landing your own role in tech, or just want to connect — feel free to leave a comment or reach out!