Ashna Jalan is studying cognitive science and artificial intelligence at the University of Toronto. She spent one month on Start Me Up’s Remote Internship Program.
Why did you decide to do Start Me Up?
“I worked in a corporation last summer. So this time around, I really wanted to learn something new rather than wait until I graduate.
Working for a startup was really important to me and also I really liked Start Me Up because its programs are based in co-working spaces, not offices.
So you could meet people, network with them and get some more ideas about what you want to do in the future.”
How do you like working in the co-working spaces?
“You can sit wherever you want. There’s just so much independence, I really like it.”
How are you balancing the work-life balance in Bali?
“I thought it would be hard but it’s not hard at all.
There are times when you can work in a cafe, you have the weekends to explore Bali. You can go for morning runs on the beach. There’s a lot to do in Bali.”
What have you been doing in Bali?
“We went for a trek to Mount Batur last weekend which was great. We saw the sunrise.
This weekend we’re going to an island called Nusa Penida (a group of nearby islands).”
How did you find the workshop element of the program?
“The UX workshop was really interesting, I was considering UX as something that I could do after I graduate.
We had to design an app, not coding just sketching it out. It was so much fun.”
How did you find the entrepreneurship workshops?
“The entrepreneurship workshops have also been good. I never would have considered being an entrepreneur before coming on Start Me Up but I think that would be such a cool path at some point in my life.
So both of them have been really great experiences.
We’ve learned about a lot of tools which we could use to create our own website/startup ideas without coding anything.
We’ve been tasked with coming up with an idea for a startup of our own and creating our own landing page for it.
We’ve also covered marketing and how to get your idea or startup out there and really target your demographic which was really informative.”