This internship experience was a big change of pace compared to my previous research
internships. It was more task-orientated, with time in between where projects could be
worked on. I primarily completed the installations around campus, and I got to know many
faculty that I would have otherwise not have met. I learned that this school primarily
supports Windows machines, and for some reason a few of the programs the campus
computers use do not mesh well with the Mac computers. I also learned how to
troubleshoot, as plenty of the help-desk tickets required information that I did not have on
the top of my head.
Throughout the internship, I was also able to work with Nathanael Baldwin (one of
Wabash’s IT web designers) to build my web-design skills. I went from not knowing a single
thing about ColdFusion (the coding language that he uses) to being good enough to create
a simple webpage. Some of the pages that we created will eventually be used on the
Wabash website, though others may require additional development if they were to be
used. Either way, I learned a lot about how the Cold Fusion language works, as well as
queries and related concepts.
To be honest, my internship was the perfect example of a low-intensity internship, as where
you don’t really have to do a whole lot but still get to learn/experience new things. I was
able to work on other things in between the installs and tickets, including a paper that may
eventually be published. I had a good time overall, and I do recommend this internship to
those who need a break from the high-intensity college schedule + extracurriculars, while
not being jobless or not needing to do anything,
