Google intern Anzhelika Kurnikova is spending her summer working in New York City, contributing to real-projects for a global technology giant.
Yes, there are scooters and bikes in the office and sleek workspaces with skyline views. Yes, her fellow interns mostly hail from Ivy League universities. And yes, free meals are real. But there are no hats with spinning propellers, high-pressure team stunts, or Quidditch competitions.
There is serious work happening and the experience is giving the USF student a front-row seat to the complexity of engineering at one of the most influential tech companies in the world.
A computer science major (and math minor) with a 4.0 GPA, Kurnikova spends her days coding, debugging, and contributing to the stability and future-readiness of Google鈥檚 internal systems.
鈥淚 can鈥檛 share all the details,鈥� she said, 鈥渂ut we are focused on making sure the systems work well and can scale. It is less about what is flashy and more about what is functional.鈥�
The best part, she says, is that her work is being used in real time, that she is contributing and is part of a team of computer scientists.
She applied. And applied. And took on a research project.
It took the Judy Genshaft Honors College student, who is part of the new Bellini College of Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity and Computing, over a year to land the internship. She applied for more than 200 opportunities nationwide but didn鈥檛 focus solely on that goal.鈥�
鈥淚 just kept applying,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 applied to tons of places. Google was my dream, but I didn鈥檛 expect it to happen.鈥�
In the meantime, she made sure she built a network among her fellow peers, took advantage of leadership opportunities, and explored research and ways to put her tech skills to work real-time.
She helped launch a that connects undergraduates with research opportunities at USF, making it easier for students to gain hands-on experience.
That project started with a need. She and a few fellow Judy Genshaft Honors College students realized that while USF faculty had dozens of open undergraduate research opportunities, students often had no idea they existed. The solution? Build a bridge between the two.
Kurnikova took on a lead role, helping design and build the site. The project received a $10,000 grant from the Florida High Tech Corridor and was guided by student contributors. The portal has been used by 1,400+ students to learn about and apply for undergraduate research opportunities. As it moves forward into the third year, new functionality will be added to enhance the portal鈥檚 structure.
鈥淲e wanted to make it easier for students to find research,鈥� she said. 鈥淎nd I think we did. There are so many amazing opportunities, but if you do not know they are there, you might never ask.鈥�
That work, she says, is what she is most proud of so far, even more than the Google intern badge.
鈥淚t had an impact. I worked with other students to build it. People are using it.鈥�
Leading by Doing
In addition to her academic success and internship, Kurnikova leads the , a chapter of the world鈥檚 largest technical professional organizations for computing. The student group helps others learn about computer science, industry trends, and professional development. Last fall, she helped organize TechX, a multi-day conference that brought together students and professionals to explore topics such as generative AI and tech careers.
鈥淲e had over 120 people attend,鈥� she said. 鈥淲e had company speakers, networking, panels, everything. I worked on logistics, outreach, even helping decide which talks to include. It was a lot, but I learned a lot.鈥�
Even while balancing classes, a leadership role, part-time campus work, and the Google internship, Kurnikova sees her experience as typical.
鈥淚 do not think it is anything too special,鈥� she said. 鈥淎 lot of students are doing cool things. We just don鈥檛 always hear about them.鈥�
From Scratch to Google
Her technical curiosity goes back much further than her college years.
At age 11, Kurnikova started playing around with Scratch, a free, visual programming language developed by the MIT Media Lab, designed for children and beginners. It uses a drag-and-drop interface with color-coded blocks that snap together, allowing users to create simple games, without writing traditional code.
By 15, she had built her first website and a company hired her to help modify its online presence.
鈥淚t was exciting to make something that worked,鈥� she said. 鈥淚t felt like solving a puzzle.鈥�
Now, just a few years later, she is working on one of the biggest tech stages there is. And though she is still deciding what is next, she is keeping her eyes on full-time roles in software engineering, hopefully at Google. She says her USF education will get her there.
鈥淚 want to keep learning,鈥� she said. 鈥淭hat is the most important thing to me. Whether it is building something useful or figuring out how a system works, I want to understand it and be part of making it better.鈥�