A once in a lifetime learning experience. A chance to see the ground floor of the future. An opportunity to meet true innovators. These are the truths Varsity Blues senior tennis player and OUA all-star Zain Manji got to experience during the summer as a Software Engineer intern with social media juggernaut Instagram.

Manji joined the Instagram search and explore team and the Instagram data engineering team and working alongside some of the best engineers, product managers and designers, he contributed to the plan and development of Instagram's "trending" feature.

"After our development meetings my day would consist of programming for the feature, performing user experience studies, and gathering data to measure success," said Manji. "I now have a deeper understanding of the technology and that will be tremendous to have in the future."

Manji soaked up as much as he could during his time in the Instagram office which was purchased by Facebook for $1 billion back in 2012. This connection in fact led to the opportunity to hear and learn directly from Facebook CEO, Mark Zuckerberg who alongside Instagram CEO, Kevin Systrom would hold a Q&A period for staff every Friday.

"It was great to hear how they think about the future of their products and where they see areas for improvement," said Manji when explaining this unique experience. "It was also great to hear what they think about things going on in the world, such as diversity in the workplace, future of technology, economic opportunities and so much more."

Manji in fact took his experience and condensed everything he could into an incredible article titled Top 8 Lesson I Learned in Silicon Valley. From learning how to define goals, to accepting tough feedback, to having a clear path for the future, Manji was truly able to define how useful the experience truly was. His article would go on to be featured on both LinkedIn and Business Insider.

Manji returns to the Varsity Blues men's tennis team, ready to compete for the No. 1 singles title once again. The Blues 2015 season starts this Sunday, September 13 when they host the UOIT Ridgebacks at their brand new courts at the University of Toronto Scarborough Campus. Action gets underway at 12 p.m.

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