After my first week at Target Freight Management, I am left feeling excited about what is to come. Target Freight Management is a fast-growing, Pittsburgh based logistics company that is able to get ahead by using cutting edge technology. After learning a bit about the basics of the company and what we do, I was pleased to know that my contribution going forward would make a real impact.

Coming into the co-op program, I was a little anxious about what it would be like since this is my first job in my field. On day one, my fears were quickly removed after a day of introductory tasks and meeting some very friendly, helpful people. My coworkers made it very clear that they would be there for me if I needed any help with a task or assignment. It also helps to have a co-op parter who I am learning side by side with.

Our first week consisted of learning of the technology and tools that are used as well as getting caught up on the current project our team is working on. Being familiar with some of the tools like Javascript and PHP helped ease the learning curve a bit. Our supervisor Dave is a very intelligent IT manager and helped us get acquainted with the background of our current project. Although I had some basic programming knowledge, I realized I had to be able to learn on the job quickly since the work was much more advanced than anything I had completed in school. For example, the first couple days we spent time implementing some simple programs using the Model View Controller style of programming which is a method of using multiple interacting programs to achieve a certain result. I also had to quickly learn some of the code base to utilize the many functions and classes that existed to help me complete my tasks.

As we move forward, I will be making a conscious effort to learn as much as possible while remaining productive. I look forward to the challenges the lie ahead!