Trip to Facebook Headquarters

This weekend, our InvenTeam was given an amazing opportunity to visit Facebook’s Headquarters located in Menlo Park, CA. We took 2 vans on a 6 hour long drive up north, last Sunday, and our first stop was Stanford University, in Palo Alto. We were extremely tired from the long drive, however, as soon as we stepped onto Stanford’s campus, we were mesmerized by the beautiful architecture. We were also amazed at the many students in their swimsuits swimming in the many fountains on campus. Our tour was led by one of our own SOAR High School alum, Nayeli Altamirano, who is currently enrolled and will graduate next Spring. The campus was beautiful, the culture was diverse, and the student life was exceptional. After the tour, we grabbed dinner, went to the hotel, and fell asleep in preparation for the big day ahead. The next day, after a great continental breakfast at the hotel, we drove down to Facebook’s Headquarters to meet with Oscar Perez, our tour guide. Mrs. Thibault was previously his Psychology teacher, and thankfully he remembered her and was gracious enough to give us all a tour. Once we got inside, our first stop was….. FOOD! We soon learned that all of the amenities provided by Facebook were free, from the restaurants to the recreation. We all agreed to eat BBQ, and from there, we continued the tour. The Facebook environment is very open and flexible, advocating for collaboration and free-thinking, with jobs ranging from advertising to engineering. After touring for a little bit, we stopped for snacks at one of their many micro-kitchens, and then took part in a panel. We listened to 3 previous Facebook Interns who now work on Oscar’s team and learned about how they ended up where they are today. Being a part of the panel was very inspirational because the speakers were only a few years older than us, and none of them expected to be where they were, but their paths lead them to Facebook and they are grateful to be a part of the Facebook team. Once we finished, we went to get some ice cream! There were so many options, and none of us could get enough! Finally, we went to our last destination, the Gift Shop! When we were all done, we sadly had to say goodbye to both the beautiful Facebook “campus” and to Oscar as well. We are all so thankful for this once-in-a-lifetime opportunity and are beyond grateful for being able to participate in a trip as amazing as this one.