This week I continued training while learning to manage the workload of trouble tickets assigned, paying close attention to the levels of priority assigned to them. I have also begun to head out on solo assignments which has added a new dimension to this internship with the level of communication and service we provide to the various scientists, engineers, and staff on site. The biggest challenge this week has been coordinating with our clients on site to arrange down time to perform maintenance on their lab devices while they are in between projects. My assignments have had a wide range of challenges this week which has been a great learning experience.

One of the fun things I learned is our IP Address Locator tool to troubleshoot some of my assignments. It brought everything I have learned in our networking classes at school into play. I have also been learning more about remote access and the command prompt commands we use to fix some of the problems encountered on computers. The thing that I found most fascinating this week was the degaussing process required for the turn in of legacy devices that that have reached there end of their life or are deemed as excess and no longer needed. Degaussing is when the magnetic data on a tape or hard disk is neutralized, or erased by exposing it to a powerful magnetic field.

My supervisor, Sheila, is also serving as a mentor and has challenged me by adjusting some of the goals I’d like to accomplish here as well. One of the goals she set for me, and what I’m most excited about, are some of the various IT industry certifications that everyone in my department is willing to help me achieve while I’m here. In addition to the current summer school load, it now looks like I’ll be studying to get my A+ and Network+ certifications. This week, I’d give me a 4 out of 5 rating because there are some assignments that I felt I could’ve approached better on the time management end.