{"title":"Ryan Seys","link":[{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/atom.xml","rel":"self"}},{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/"}}],"updated":"2026-02-18T12:46:00-08:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com","author":{"name":"Ryan Seys","email":{}},"entry":[{"title":"Learning to live, by learning to breathe","link":{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/breathing"}},"updated":"2018-03-31T00:00:00-07:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/breathing","content":"

\"\"<\/p>\n\n

• • •<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n

\u201cYou Are Now Breathing Manually\u2026\u201d<\/em><\/p>\n\n

When someone tells you this, your initial reaction is to likely try to fight the urge to think about your breath, and soon you\u2019ll realize that the more effort you put in to fight it i.e. the more you try to not think about thinking about your breath, the more you\u2019re unlikely to be successful in doing so. It\u2019s only by completely letting go, giving up your sense of control of the breath, that you\u2019re able to get it to return to its natural rhythm and fade into the background of your mind.<\/p>\n\n

\n

One of the funny things about the mind is that it doesn\u2019t like being told what to do, despite it being the one telling it what to do.<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

For the past 4 months (starting last December), I\u2019ve been exploring this idea and the inner processes of my own mind through daily meditation. This practice initially started as an attempt to try to calm my own mind from the sporadic thoughts that tended to cloud my daily life, but has since developed into a daily routine that provides me so much joy and has helped build my ability to feel compassion and empathy toward others, and ultimately learn how to live more intentionally.<\/p>\n\n

This term \u201cmeditation\u201d gets thrown around a lot but it\u2019s really just a fancy word for \u201cfocused awareness of what\u2019s happening right now\u201d. The idea around meditation is that by focusing your mind on what\u2019s happening right now, your mind will become clearer and calmer.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

If I may entertain you for a few minutes more, I\u2019m going to reflect and share with you a few things that I\u2019ve learned and observed through this practice so far.<\/p>\n\n

<\/div>\n\n

Be aware.<\/h2>\n\n

Before I started this practice, meditation to me was a foreign idea, something I thought only monks did, or certainly wasn\u2019t for a \u201cregular\u201d person like myself. I also thought meditation was extremely difficult to do, and even if I could convince myself to try to do it, I figured it would require considerable practice to really get started. I\u2019ll show you right now why all of these preconceptions were wrong.<\/p>\n\n

Breathe.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n

No seriously, breathe right now. As you breathe in, feel it<\/em> in your chest as your lungs fill with air. Focus on that feeling, letting everything else fade into the background. Don\u2019t judge<\/em> that feeling, just be aware of it. Now breathe out, continuing to hold onto that feeling. Breathe again, continuing to hold that focus. If your mind wanders, acknowledge the passing thought, and bring your focus back to the breath. Rinse & repeat.<\/p>\n\n

Congrats, you just ~meditated~<\/em><\/p>\n\n

Everything else you may hear about meditation these days: meditation pillows, meditation apps, mantras & sound bites, are only there to try to help you create an environment that is conducive to being able to sustain that focused awareness. At the end of the day, no matter what you do to create that mental space for yourself, don\u2019t lose track of the real purpose of meditation: to simply be aware.<\/p>\n\n

Which leads into the next thing I\u2019ve learned\u2026<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Be awake.<\/h2>\n\n

Through the 4 months of logging my daily meditation experiences, one of the trends I noticed more than anything else was that the easiest way to make meditation more difficult and less effective for myself was to try to do it when I\u2019m sleepy. This isn\u2019t to say it\u2019s impossible, but it certainly makes it more challenging, like trying to go to the gym in a state of physical exhaustion.<\/p>\n\n

I typically do anywhere from 10\u201330 minutes of meditation per day (you can do as little or as much as you like), but even that small amount of time can seem like an eternity to your mind when you\u2019re tired.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n

One of the most effective ways that I\u2019ve found to combat the possibility of falling asleep and to increase my awareness is to meditate right in the morning, after a shower & a cup of joe. At that point, you should be awake enough that you aren\u2019t going to fall back asleep but it\u2019s still early enough in the day that you can approach that time with a fresh, clean slate of curiosity.<\/p>\n\n

Which leads me into my third observation\u2026<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Be curious.<\/h2>\n\n

Don\u2019t take meditation too seriously. Meditation is just about being aware of what\u2019s going on around you, so have fun with it and be curious about what you\u2019ll find. Try not to think of meditation as something that is separate from your everyday life. Recognize that when you\u2019re meditating, you\u2019re living as fully as ever.<\/p>\n\n

When thoughts inevitably pop up during your meditation practice, be curious about what they are, observe them and acknowledge them, but then let them go.<\/p>\n\n

All in all, be sure to have fun, and\u2026<\/p>\n\n

<\/p>\n\n

Be deliberate.<\/h2>\n\n

If you\u2019re going to meditate (as you should), don\u2019t half-ass it. Be deliberate in what you want to achieve. Try your best in your meditation to bring your full energy and focus into that awareness, but recognize when your mind fails on that promise and find the capacity to admit it, forgive yourself, and try again.<\/p>\n\n

The best things in life are usually those worth working for. Meditation is something you need to practice, but its rewards are worth the effort. By being deliberate, you can be sure that you are focusing your energy in the most effective way.<\/p>\n\n

• • •<\/div>\n

<\/span><\/p>\n\n

I hope these few reflections help provide you with a bit of insight into what meditation is, and how you can get the most out of your practice. As you may note, the above musings could be applied to not only meditation but also to life in general. This shouldn\u2019t really come as too big of a surprise given how meditation is simply living with more intentional awareness.<\/p>\n\n

So go out there, and enjoy each breath. Happy meditating, happy living\u00a0:)<\/p>\n"},{"title":"Hello, Verily","link":{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/hello-verily"}},"updated":"2016-06-01T00:00:00-07:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/hello-verily","content":"

Exactly one year ago, I joined Google DevRel with the hope of helping improve developer\u2019s lives, making them more productive and successful while building on Google\u2019s developer platform. With an amazing team supporting me, I was able to deliver on that dream for products such as Android TV and Nest, and ultimately this success was shown through the delivery of a talk this year at Google I\/O.<\/p>\n\n

Today I\u2019m excited to announce I\u2019m starting my next adventure, this time outside of Google \u2014 but still within Alphabet \u2014 to help improve the lives of all those affected by disease. Today, I\u2019m joining Verily<\/a> to help develop tools and technologies that can detect diseases earlier, understand them better, and intervene more precisely.<\/p>\n\n

Thank you to everyone who has supported me in this decision. Working with such an incredible team within Google DevRel this past year has made this switch difficult to come to terms with, but I\u2019m excited to start this new chapter of my life, with the ultimate dream of discovering the truth behind nature and disease.<\/p>\n\n

\"Heart\"<\/span><\/p>\n\n"},{"title":"Contribute to READMEs","link":{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/contribute-to-readmes"}},"updated":"2015-05-17T00:00:00-07:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/contribute-to-readmes","content":"

Open source development is booming and many people, developers or otherwise, are eager to jump onboard! Lots of people have approached me asking how they can get involved in open source projects and how I stay afloat in the ever-changing ecosystem of open source. My answer is: \u201cby editing READMEs\u201d.<\/p>\n\n

Large reach. Large importance.<\/h2>\n\n

READMEs, especially those that exist in GitHub projects, are one of the first things that users and developers see when coming across a project. Tom Preston-Werner, the Cofounder of GitHub, even suggests README Driven Development<\/a>. This means that the README is one of the most highly viewed documents in any repository and so its quality can make or break whether the project receives any further attention.<\/p>\n\n

Having a good README shows that care went into the project and that documentation is treated as a first-class citizen in the project. Your contribution will impact all those that read the README. That\u2019s huge!<\/p>\n\n

In addition, GitHub, one of the world\u2019s largest respositories of open source projects, makes this super easy. You\u2019re only a couple clicks away from making your first contribution to your favourite open source project.<\/p>\n\n

\"Click<\/p>\n\n

Valuable and harmless.<\/h2>\n\n

Many people are intimidated by editing real code in projects because they feel that their code contributions might be heavily scrutinized, or introduce bugs into the project which will reflect negatively on them. Many highly technical developers constantly struggle with imposter syndrome, especially outside the comfort of their own projects. I suggest editing the README of a project first because it\u2019s hard to break things in a static document. Whether you\u2019re fixing a grammatical mistake, spelling error, missing documentation or adding links to important related resources, contributions to READMEs vary widely and can be as small as a single character diff.<\/p>\n\n

Technical and non-technical.<\/h2>\n\n

Both technical and non-technical people can contribute to a README equally. Although many open source projects focus heavily on code, a README comprises of both technical and non-technical parts and both are equal playing field when it comes to contributions. As mentioned previously, even grammatical issues are fair game when it comes to legitimate edits.<\/p>\n\n

Gauge project health.<\/h2>\n\n

\"Eat<\/p>\n\n

One of the most important reasons that I suggest you edit READMEs is that your small edit can quickly establish a relationship with the maintainers of the project and allow you to evaluate how they proceed to handle your contribution and the overall health of the project.<\/p>\n\n

For example, if your contribution to their README is never addressed in any form, the project is likely carelessly maintained and you should be careful when contributing to other aspects of the project to ensure that it will receive any attention at all. In this case, I wouldn\u2019t spend a lot of time on further contributions until I\u2019ve established a closer relationship with the maintainers to ensure that my time isn\u2019t completely wasted on a project that has been silently abandoned. If this happens, at least you didn\u2019t spend countless hours carefully adding a new feature complete with tests and documentation only to be given the cold shoulder.<\/p>\n\n

On the other hand, if your contribution is quickly addressed by the maintainers, you can further gauge how they handled your contribution. Were they friendly? Did they give you advice on how you can further expand on your contribution? Did they accept it and thank you for the contribution? All these things can give you hints as to how the maintainers will treat you in the future if you continue to contribute to the project.<\/p>\n\n

Get comfortable with the project.<\/h2>\n\n

\"\"<\/p>\n\n

There are many ways to learn about a project but one very effective way is to read the current README and learn from what has already been wrote, then investigate the project and cross-reference what the code says versus what the README documents as truth. Here you can find gaps in the documentation that you can fill, or errors if changes were made to code but the README was neglected (a very common issue I see). Another idea is to follow links in the README, both to get familiar with the various documentation external to the repository but also to potentially find dead links. All of these are important to maintaining a healthy and happy open source project and allow you to start contributing today!<\/p>\n\n

Need a repo to get started? Edit my README on GitHub<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Happy contributing!<\/p>\n"},{"title":"Twenty-fourteen","link":{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/twenty-fourteen"}},"updated":"2014-12-29T00:00:00-08:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/twenty-fourteen","content":"

Twenty-fourteen has been a fantastic year for me. The following post allows me to both reminisce on all the fun times I\u2019ve had in 2014 (and that not-so-fun time my laptop was stolen) and to also look ahead to the arrival of 2015, where I hope to have bigger, better adventures (and have less laptops stolen)! Between school, interning at Google in California, and traveling this year has been total amaze-balls. Here\u2019s my story\u2026<\/p>\n\n

\"Camping\"\nCamping out in the boonies with my summer roommates was a favourite memory of mine. This post is written in loving memory of Michael\u2019s GoPro.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

School<\/h2>\n\n

Study study study. A large portion of 2014 for me has been school. I\u2019m in the works of finishing up my degree at Carleton University for Software Engineering and should be graduated by May 2015. It\u2019s right around the corner now!<\/p>\n\n

School has been a wild ride for me and it\u2019s not yet over, but chugging through these last couple years has been slow and painful, especially just knowing I\u2019m in the final stretch.<\/p>\n\n

Looking back on all the people I\u2019ve met in school makes me really appreciate all the time (and not to mention money) I\u2019ve spent going through post-secondary education to get my degree. These people are irreplaceable and when we all move on to our big, important grown-up jobs, I hope to continue to keep in touch with them. No photos here because school is boring af<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n

Google<\/h2>\n\n

Sandwiched between two school terms was my amazing adventure at Google as a summer intern. I had the absolute honour of working with the Developer Relations team at Google as a Software Engineering Intern. This unique opportunity exposed me to the weird and wonderful world of DevRel.<\/p>\n\n

\"Google\nPosing with the new Google self-driving car on the day it was announced. It\u2019s so freaking cute.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

Typically at Google, Software Engineering Interns are either given a project to work on or have some say in the project they want to work on during their summer. At the end of the summer, you\u2019ll have to gauge the impact you had using real-world metrics and write yourself a self-review on how successful your summer internship was at Google for both yourself and for Google.<\/p>\n\n

I\u2019m lucky to say that I had it even better than most other interns. During my 14 weeks at Google I got to work on two<\/strong> different projects and have a large impact on both:<\/p>\n\n

    \n
  1. Google API NodeJS Client<\/li>\n
  2. Google I\/O Codelab Kiosks<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

    Google API NodeJS Client<\/h3>\n\n

    The Google API NodeJS Client library, found here on GitHub<\/a>, is Google\u2019s official library used for interacting with Google APIs in NodeJS. Originally developed to support most Google APIs out of the box, it was slow, buggy and just didn\u2019t deliver the right experience that NodeJS developers expected.<\/p>\n\n

    During my summer, myself with lots of help of my mentor @rakyll<\/a>, rewrote the majority of the library\u2019s codebase to deliver a better experience to Node developers, resulting in a skyrocketing of popularity for the module, nearly doubling its number of stars to 2600+ and decreasing issue counts by over 50%.<\/p>\n\n

    Overall the project re-write was a huge success and I\u2019m super happy to have had the opportunity to contribute to it. If you\u2019re a node hacker and wanna get your hands messy or give feedback on the project, check it out<\/a> on GitHub.<\/p>\n\n

    Google I\/O Codelab Kiosks<\/h3>\n\n

    With Google I\/O fast approaching and the World Cup eating up much of the Developer Relation full-timer\u2019s attention, they needed to recruit me, the intern with ever-lasting energy, to work on Google I\/O Codelab Kiosk software to be used at the 2014 Google I\/O conference in San Francisco.<\/p>\n\n

    Again, this was an amazing opportunity being able to work with so many awesome people across many different parts of Developer Relations. The big difference between this project and the traditional intern project is that it had a REALLY HARD deadline (you can\u2019t just move Google I\/O\u2026 and we\u2019re talking weeks until lift-off, not months) that would have REALLY BAD consequences if they weren\u2019t met.<\/p>\n\n

    Stress levels were high during this time, but caffeine levels were higher and together we all got it done and we saw it all come together (I won\u2019t say smoothly but rather in good timing) at Google I\/O that year.<\/p>\n\n

    \"Google\nGoogle I\/O 2014 registration lines. Where all the developers got their free watches!<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    Seeing hundreds of developers using the Codelab Kiosk system to learn about new Google technologies and being able to first-hand mentor these developers at Google I\/O was a great experience for me as a learner but also as a teacher and as a peer.<\/p>\n\n

    Going back<\/h3>\n\n

    Overall interning at Google was an amazing opportunity. So amazing that I just had to try and go back. Fortunately, Google also wants to have me back so I\u2019m very excited to say that I\u2019ll be joining Google full-time in June 2015 as a Developer Programs Engineer in California. I cannot wait to be finished school and on my way to the warm sun-soaked California.<\/p>\n\n

    \"Google\nThe Google Intern Carnival was a fun-filled afternoon filled with bouncy castles, ice-cream trucks, mechanical bulls and free alcohol. A true intern\u2019s paradise.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    Travel<\/h2>\n\n

    Yosemite<\/h3>\n\n

    Working at Google can be an exhaustingly fun place to work which means winding down with a solid weekend vacation at 10,000 ft elevation is the only natural way to rejuvenate. This memorable weekend trip was to Yosemite National Park in California, where we (my amazing Google roommates and I) drove 3-4 hours up into the mountain air and enjoyed the weekend without cell-phones, electricity or a single fuck to give.<\/p>\n\n

    \"Yosemite\"\nYosemite\u2019s views are to die for. This one spotted on the side of the road was too good to pass up for a photo-op.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    We climbed the rocks in the late hours of the night, nearly walking off cliffs and watching the stars twinkle and shoot across the sky. We rode pack-mules around the mountains and through the bushes before arriving at a beautiful picturesque view that could never equally be captured in a photo.<\/p>\n\n

    \"Mule\nThe view at the end of our pack-mule ride. I\u2019m there on the left soaking it all in.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    Yosemite was a great deal of fun and created a mule\u2019s pack worth of memories to cherish for years to come. Anyone considering Yosemite as their next destination should definitely go through with it. Just be sure to pack lots of warm clothes, especially for the winter months. The summer nights, as we learned, dip to nearly freezing, 0 degrees Celsius (32 in Freedom degrees), resulting in a rather chilly surprise.<\/p>\n\n

    Europe<\/h3>\n\n

    Even as a Canadian, I\u2019ll take any chance I can get to escape the cold hands of mother nature\u2019s winters or the sweaty humid hands of the Ottawa summer. So naturally moving to California to intern at Google for the summer was such a blessing, though eventually I did start to miss the rain due to the ever-lasting record-breaking drought California saw this year.<\/p>\n\n

    Before returning to Ottawa following my internship, I decided to take a solo backpacking journey around Europe to refresh before school started again.<\/p>\n\n

    My travel plans were as follows:<\/p>\n\n

    San Francisco, USA\n\u2192 London, UK\n\u2192 Amsterdam, Netherlands\n\u2192 Oslo, Norway\n\u2192 Rome, Italy\n\u2192 Barcelona, Spain\n\u2192 Porto, Portugal\n\u2192 London, UK\n\u2192 Toronto, Canada<\/p>\n\n

    \"Amsterdam\nPosing in a giant clog in Amsterdam. I\u2019m like the little old lady that lived in the shoe.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    \"Amsterdam\nThe coffee and the \u201ccoffee\u201d in Amsterdam wasn\u2019t so bad. Out of shot:<\/b> A couple cool Aussies I befriended from my hostel.<\/small><\/i><\/p>\n\n

    Unfortunately, my travel was cut short in Amsterdam after having nearly all my belongings stolen from me including my laptop, clothes and most importantly my dignity and energy. The unfortunate event happened rather simply: I placed my luggage in a locked-yet-unmonitored luggage room at my hostel, left to find coffee, and later returned to discover my luggage had mysteriously vanished from previously-said-room\u2026<\/p>\n\n

    My resulting trip looked like this instead:<\/p>\n\n

    San Francisco, USA\n\u2192 London, UK\n\u2192 Amsterdam, Netherlands\n\u2192 Amsterdam Police Station<\/strong>\n\u2192 Toronto, Canada<\/p>\n\n

    Luckily I had my money and passport on me but rather than continue the journey in an exhausted state of paranoia, I decided it was healthier for myself and my wallet to cut my losses and head home early. Months later, the Amsterdam court mailed me a letter saying they found the suspect that stole my belongings and put them in jail for 4 months for the crime. JUSTICE! (Sorta, I never did get my things back\u2026)<\/p>\n\n

    New Years in NYC<\/h2>\n\n

    In two days, I\u2019ll be traveling to NYC for the first time to experience New Years Eve in New York with my roomies and friends from the summer. Though I don\u2019t expect NYC to disappoint, it\u2019s the people I\u2019m most excited to see again! Cheers to all your New Year\u2019s Eve celebrations and resolutions!<\/p>\n\n

    Twenty-fifteen<\/h2>\n\n

    I\u2019ve met so many fantastic people and seen so many fantastic places that it\u2019s going to be hard to 1-up it all next year.<\/p>\n\n

    Here\u2019s a couple lessons I\u2019ve learned this year that hopefully I can carry into 2015:<\/p>\n\n

      \n
    1. \n

      Don\u2019t leave your luggage unattended in a public space. Be extra cautious while traveling abroad and don\u2019t trust \u201cthe system\u201d to always work. Make sure you keep your money and passport on you at all times.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    2. \n

      People are awesome. Don\u2019t take them for granted.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    3. \n

      Don\u2019t fall off cliffs (e.g. at Yosemite). That wouldn\u2019t be very fun.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    4. \n

      Google\u2019s a cool place to work, but the perks don\u2019t really matter that<\/em> much. The people do. See #2 for more information.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    5. \n

      Travel more and make more mistakes. It\u2019s the best way to learn for yourself.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n

    6. \n

      Write more blog posts. Here\u2019s a start.<\/p>\n <\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n

      Cheers to your twenty-fifteen!<\/p>\n\n

      \"California\"<\/p>\n\n

      For more silly ramblings like this, follow me<\/a> on Twitter.<\/p>\n\n"},{"title":"Mozilla Internship FAQ","link":{"@attributes":{"href":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/mozilla-internship-faq"}},"updated":"2014-07-19T00:00:00-07:00","id":"https:\/\/ryanseys.com\/post\/mozilla-internship-faq","content":"

      Over the past year I have received numerous emails regarding my internship at Mozilla. I wrote this post to answer some of the more common questions that I was asked. This is my experience based on a technical position so it may be quite different for non-technical roles. Regardless, this FAQ should give you a good feeling for how the Mozilla internships work.<\/p>\n\n

      Disclaimer: I can\u2019t guarantee you a similar experience, but I do guarantee that what I say here is true for what I experienced for my intership at Mozilla.<\/p>\n\n

      \n

      Can I intern at Mozilla?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

      Absolutely! If you love the web and stand by it as a platform, you should love what Mozilla is doing for it. Freshen up on their mission<\/a> and think hard about whether Mozilla is right for you.<\/p>\n\n

      \n

      How did you manage to get an internship at Mozilla?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

      Believe it or not, I just applied online! I didn\u2019t have references within the company, I just went to their careers website<\/a> and applied<\/em>. In the cover letter section, I wrote a little blurb about why I think Mozilla would be a good fit for me and what I could bring to them. If you have to think really hard about this part, you may not be the best candidate.<\/p>\n\n

      \n

      What was the interview process like?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

      All the other interns that I spoke to had varying experiences when it came to their interviews at Mozilla. Here\u2019s a few things I found that were similar:<\/p>\n\n

        \n
      1. You typically interview directly with a member \/ members of the team you would end up working with during the internship.<\/li>\n
      2. You will be<\/strong> interviewed for your technical ability in a wide variety of areas. This is very dependent on your team.<\/li>\n
      3. You will likely have numerous interviews. I had five (5) interviews total before an offer was given. Expect two interviews at the very least.<\/li>\n
      4. All of my interviews were remote video Skype calls. Your interviewer could also whip out a Google Doc for you to code on.<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n\n
        \n

        What were the technical questions like?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

        The topics covered in your technical interviews will vary greatly from team to team. The format of such questions will also vary greatly. Some teams will prefer to ask you more formal problem solving questions and expect more formal coded solutions. Yes, expect to code in your interviews.<\/p>\n\n

        Other teams prefer a more conversational style interview where you\u2019ll discuss with them previous projects, your skills in an applied context and more open ended problems that require you to think a little harder. In all cases, relax. Your interviewers want to see you succeed just as much as you do.<\/p>\n\n

        \n

        Does Mozilla provide housing for interns?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

        They did provide housing for me. I didn\u2019t have to find housing or roommates. In fact, I had little say in where I lived for my internship. Housing situations change from year to year and greatly depend on your office location.<\/p>\n\n

        If you already have housing or otherwise prefer to find your own place, they also offered a small stipend instead. This stipend was much less compared to the value of the housing they provided so I greatly recommend letting them provide you with housing if given the option. It was also hassle-free and super close to the office.<\/p>\n\n

        \n

        How does an internship visa work?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

        I acquired a J-1 visa for my summer internship. It was sponsored by a company whom Mozilla arranged to work with me. This means that a company guides you through the process and collects all information and documentation neccesary for acquiring a visa for the internship. As a Canadian, getting a US J-1 visa was very straightforward, however I do not know how the J-1 visa acquisition works for other countries. See here<\/a> for more information about the J-1 visa process in the US.<\/p>\n\n

        \n

        How long did the whole process take?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n

        Overall my process took about 4 months from application to offer. This is greatly dependent on when they look at your application and how quickly interviews can complete. It also matters what months your internship takes place. A friend of mine applied after I received my offer in March, got his offer and started the same day as me that summer so it\u2019s all variable.<\/p>\n\n

        As an example, the following is my timeline:<\/p>\n\n