This week spanned the fourth of July. Typically, I spend the fourth with my mom and visit my extended family at my Grandpa's house. This year, being here, I was only able to call which was fine but the holiday marked a more personal independence. For one, being away from home this long is a bit challenging but it's definitely making me more independent. This internship as a whole as been a very maturing experience but this week I took some personal steps that contributed to my confidence and self reliance. This experience continues elevate my sense of adulthood and professionalism.
This week was the first week I officially teleworked. If you are not familiar with the term like I was at the beginning of this internship, it's basically just another way of saying work from home. Of course by now I'm accustomed to doing work from home- known to most students as "homework" but that is very different than doing a 9-5 job from home. I didn't imagine how distracting it could be but I think it was definitely an interesting thing to try... needless to say I may not be trying it again very soon.
If you recall, last week I attended a panel about cyber security. I was very intrigued by the panelist's work and how they were affecting change within the computer science field and afterwards decided to search for the two in computer science on LinkedIn. With all the coaching we've had from QEM and a LinkedIn specialist, I did my best to construct a brief yet informative email with a hint of personality- which may have been simply adding the forever debated exclamation mark. Is it professional is it not? The answer will differ wherever you go. Luckily, one responded and she scheduled to have a call with me. In this call, we discusses several great connections for people in computer science and great ways to market yourself. Surprisingly, Twitter came up as a resource with groups like "Black tech twitter" and " Black cyber twitter" distributing information and opportunities. She also advised creating a cards for networking events and a blog where I could post projects and better tell my story. Both of which I didn't think to do. She also has connected me with another person to help more with career advising.
Overall, this week felt the quickest and as we get closer to the end I feel everything speeding by. This week helped to establish a deeper self-dependency and confidence that even after I leave this program I will have plenty of skills to continue to develop myself as a professional and as an adult.
