Craig Kogan, Canada

The 13 weeks I spent in Ljubljana changed my life in the best way possible! My work at the LEST lab involved refactoring an old website that was to become an energy trading platform. The goal of the system was to allow those who had surplus energy to sell the energy to those who were at a deficit. Since the energy trading was to be from as close to the source as possible, it would allow for major power redirections to both supply those in need and help mitigate energy overproduction. My task was to take the codebase and refactor it into a useable state. At first, everything was a complete disaster. I was finding mistakes in the code everywhere, and that offered a prime opportunity for me to sharpen my skills. I worked with all levels of the system, from upgrading the database all the way to changing how the website was displayed to users. Overall, it was an amazing experience that taught me a lot about refactoring, debugging, and generally fixing problems.

I of course did not work alone. While the actual programing was my job, the LEST team was very supportive. By the end of my internship, I was having short meetings with various members of the team regularly. Their availability and willingness to spend just a few minutes with me to help me figure out how they wanted the system to work was amazing! Working with a small team in person is an amazing work environment, and the LEST team really showed me what it felt like to work with a team of people who cared about what they were working on and how to support your team members.

My time in Ljubljana outside of work was also amazing! I introduced myself to a group of students living in the student dorm right next to the one I was staying in, and we had a great time! The student life in Ljubljana is glowing with energy and excitement! It was awesome to interact with people from a different culture and have fun together! I’ll probably still be chatting with some of my Slovenian friends months after I’m back in Montreal! Hopefully I’ll be able to go back and visit them next summer!

All in all, my time in Slovenia was amazing, and I’d highly recommend to everyone to leap at the opportunity to go there if you ever get the chance!