During the summer, CERN hosts the Summer Student Programme, welcoming students from all over the world to work on research and technical projects across the organization.
The programme is strongly focused on learning and growth. Alongside their projects, students attend a series of shared lectures covering advanced IT topics, engineering practices, and cutting-edge technologies used at CERN.
I was very happy to be invited to contribute and share my experience in cloud technologies.
Instead of giving a purely technical lecture, I tried to imagine myself in their position: a curious student, maybe a bit overwhelmed, maybe unsure about what direction to take.
I shared the story of when I was an electronic engineering student who felt bored and slightly lost — until I stumbled into the “rabbit hole” of containers. What started as curiosity turned into experimentation. With a simple hands-on exercise, I began understanding how containers really work behind the scenes: namespaces, cgroups, isolation — not as abstract concepts, but as tangible mechanisms.
Through that story, I encouraged them to approach technology the same way: pick something that sparks curiosity, experiment with it deeply, break it, rebuild it, and follow that curiosity wherever it leads.
Because sometimes, a simple experiment can change the direction of your career.
You can find the full recording of the lecture here.