As you finish up your studies, what work are you doing and what are your future plans?

Currently, I am involved with monitoring and maintaining an enterprise network for a leading sports entertainment company. I am excited to share that I recently accepted an offer at L3Harris Technologies as an IT associate and I will begin work after my May 2021 graduation.

What advice would you give your younger self about figuring out what aspect of the IT & Informatics profession to pursue?

When first admitted into the Information Technology and Informatics (ITI) program, I was overwhelmed with the number of possibilities and routes I could take to start my career. One of the advantages of the ITI curriculum is the broad range of subjects provided for students to learn about. I would advise my younger self not to be afraid to try different avenues within the program. About a year ago, when I first entered the program, I was fixated on one single career path and did not give myself the opportunity to explore other options. Exploring all that this program has to offer would have allowed me to have a better understanding of many other IT fields and help me progress faster.

What was your favorite class in your ITI program?

Human-Computer Interaction taught by Brett Fielo is by far the most impactful course I’ve taken throughout my college education. Fielo emphasized that Human-Computer Interaction is primarily about solving problems when designing technologies. It is important to understand that technology is only useful if humans can easily and efficiently interact with it. This course emphasized practical design methodology developing an interface prototype of either a mobile application or web application. Although I do not plan on continuing my career in the user experience/user interface (UX/UI) industry, applying principles learned in this class helped me efficiently solve technical problems during my current internship as a network analyst and design solutions to work processes. I highly recommend enrolling in this course and I believe I will be using the concepts I learned in this class for the rest of my career.

What have you learned from your internship experience?

As a network operation center analyst at Aspire Technology Partners, I am tasked with analyzing and troubleshooting system issues within enterprise networks. I have also had the opportunity to set up, develop, and maintain networks for multiple different companies. This includes configuring and deploying network managed routers, switches, and firewalls that support data transmission. Working at Aspire has enabled me to develop strong skills and a clear understanding of the different components inside enterprise networks. I have greatly enhanced my skills and understanding related to network data transmission, network security, network access management, systems management, and much more. Working with Aspire has been a great first step in my career and I cannot thank our team enough for the support they have provided me.

What’s the best piece of career advice you’ve received?

Part of my personal growth has involved deciding to constantly lean on others to learn and progress. The beautiful thing about people is we all come from different backgrounds, beliefs, experiences, and cultures. Absorbing knowledge from others is the best advice I have received as it allows me to learn and think with an open mind.

Photo: Courtesy of Allan Jacob