Internship Diaries: Real Stories from Students Working with Top Brands

Parul University is a state private university that was established in 2015. It is approved by AICTE, BCI, INC, UGC, and PCI. The university is NAAC  A++ accredited. Some of the popular Parul University courses offered by the university include BTech, BBA, BArch, MCA, and MBA. 

There’s a certain energy on campus that only the internship season brings. The library stays filled, phones buzz with interview calls and emails, and “Have you updated your resume yet?” becomes the most asked question at the canteen. But behind this hustle lies one of the most important chapters in a student’s life: their first taste of the real world.

At Parul University, internships are more than a line on a CV. There are ways to explore, experiment, earn, and evolve. Whether it's engineering or design, tech or marketing, medicine or management, internships come in all forms. And yes, they come with stories that one will be telling for the rest of their life.

When Your Internship Email Says “Coca-Cola”

Let’s start big. Seven MBA students recently landed internships at Coca-Cola. Yes, the red-and-white brand that pretty much lives in every fridge and billboard. However, what does it mean to work as an intern for a company that big?

For these students, it wasn’t about just sitting in on meetings. It involved analysing customer behaviour, tracing distribution tracks, going deep into market data, and creating tactics that might influence real-time marketing. They didn’t just learn what marketing is. They saw how it’s done when you’re managing a brand known in every part of the world. And when it's over? They had a story that would shine in any future interview, in addition to their internship certificate.

From IIT Madras to Biomedical Labs

Engineering students here don't just follow textbooks. One biomedical engineering student landed a very amazing research internship at IIT Madras, where they took part in a project that paired artificial intelligence with medical diagnostics.

Imagine attending normal classes at college during the semester and then switching to the intense research environment at IIT during the breaks. Most days were about analysing data, learning how sensors can be used in health tech, chatting with researchers, and sharing simple ideas that actually made sense in the real world. 

GitHub, Real-World Code, and $3000

Getting selected for Google Summer of Code (GSoC) is no small thing. It’s a global program where students help build real-world open-source projects, and one student from our campus made the list by interning with the OWASP Foundation, a big name in cybersecurity. They worked on real tools that developers use all across the world, rather than simply practising tasks. Their summer was spent writing code, collaborating with mentors from different countries, and learning how real open-source projects run.

The $3000 stipend was good, but more important was seeing their work implemented, put to use, and visible in the global development world. 

ISRO Internships: Yes, Space is a Real Thing

Not every student dreams of boardrooms. Some look up, literally. Like the engineering student who got an internship at ISRO. What began as an interest in rocket launches grew into a satellite data systems research internship. While his friends were figuring out Excel sheets, he was diving into telemetry, working with orbital data, and attending reviews with scientists who’d actually been part of launch missions.

No textbook or classroom could give an insight into the real workings of large-scale space systems like this one did.  And being a part of that environment, even for a short time, was a huge step forward for a student who used to watch rocket launches on YouTube.

Campus Hustles: The Internships You Didn’t See Coming

Not all great internships require moving cities or boarding a flight. Some of the most interesting ones happen right here on campus. Students intern with Branding, Admissions, My First Friend, and even Admin & Outreach teams. These are real roles where students handle social media campaigns, design posters for huge events, shoot content reels, write press releases, talk to parents during admissions, and even coordinate VIP visits.

One student from the design stream interned with the branding department and ended up creating posters for a major university event. His artwork was printed all over the city, plus being posted on the university's Instagram page.

Another interned as a student ambassador for My First Friend. Her part? Helping freshers settle in, but also friendly marketing, handling welcoming drives, and conducting micro-events. She said it helped her build confidence more than anything ever had.

What's more? These internships come with stipends. So you’re not just building skills, you’re also building your bank balance. 

More Than a Bullet Point

Here’s the thing: most students realise by the end of their internships, it’s not just about the work. It has to do with the change.

You discover how to:

• Talk like an expert in meetings (and not say “uhh” every 3 seconds)
• Even if your laptop crashes at 11:59 p.m., you can still manage your chores.
• Instead of acting as though you know everything, ask valid questions.
• Even if it hurts, take criticism and grow from it.

Whether you’re writing code, making decks, or organising events, every internship teaches you to be more responsible, more curious, and way more prepared for what lies ahead.

In the End, Everyone Has to Start Somewhere.

Maybe your first internship is unpaid. Maybe it’s remote. Or maybe it’s in a field you didn’t think you’d like. It's okay. The important thing is to get started.

Because that first step can lead to a hundred different directions, whether it's at Coca-Cola, IIT Madras, GSoC, ISRO, or right here on campus. Long after you graduate, you'll remember the knowledge, insights, and stories you experienced.

And when you finally look back on your internship diaries, you’ll realise: the real success wasn’t just landing the internship. It was what you did with it. 

 

Note: The views expressed in this article are of Parul University and do not reflect/represent those of Shiksha.