- My STEP signature project entailed me having the opportunity to work in the computer science industry and learn how computer science techniques are applied outside of university. I was able to do this by interning at a software company throughout the entire summer.Here I was able to develop real applications that would go on to be used by real customers.
- I assumed that many of the techniques learned in computer science class would directly relate to the work that I would be doing at my internship. As it turned out the techniques learned in classes were more subtly applied in industry than I had initially thought. I was surprised to find that some of the techniques that I learned about in class were actually frowned upon at my internship. That being said I was able to utilize several of the concepts that I learned in class, and this allowed me to transform my thoughts of “boring classroom material” into thinking of said concepts as tools that could be used to solve problems.
- The relationships that I was able to foster with my co-workers ultimately led to the transformations in terms of my thinking about computer science. My co-workers had far more expertise than I did, but many of them had not too long ago taken some of the same classes that I was taking or getting ready to take. This allowed them to relate to some of the work that was being done at my internship, to concepts that were being taught in the classroom. This proved itself to be a critical transformational experience because it allowed me to further bridge the gap between what was being taught at school and how I would apply it in the real world. Additionally the fact that my internship allowed me to work on actual projects along with the other employees at the company added so much value to my experience as it allowed me to see how projects were actually worked on in practice rather than only allowing me to see projects specifically designed for interns.
- The change that took place proved to be very valuable, especially after returning to school, because it gave me a renewed sense of interest in the material that I was learning in classes. Prior to my experience with my internship, I didn’t know the magnitude to which I would use the skills learned in class out in the field. My experience with my coworkers allowed me to see how the skills that I was learning in class, as well as some that I hadn’t learned yet, could be used to make practical applications at work.
