Final Week: The Grand Finale
Hello all!
Long time no talk! My last post was right before I went on a week vacation…and then I realized I had mis-timed my posts and wouldn’t have anything to talk about until my final week. For that, you all have my apologies.
On a lighter note, the internship turned out amazingly! We were able to accomplish everything that was asked of us, giving Vigilant a big hand in their new contract. When I first got there I wasn’t sure if I was going to be able to hang with my co-workers as far as getting work done. The first few weeks I spent hours just trying to figure out what my assignment even was, let alone completing it, because all of the terminology was foreign to me. Nonetheless, by about week 4 I was able to get into the swing of things and work my normal hours and complete not only what was asked of me, but sometimes more.
In completing those tasks I learned more than I ever imagined, but one thing I really took away is how to solve problems no one has solved before. In the classroom all of my assignments have a solution, a solution thousands of people know and have their own spin of. However, when I got to Vigilant, we were working on something that doesn’t have a solution. That meant I was opened to a whole new part of the development process in making sure if I do A for part 1 can I do B for part 2 etc. Prior to having to really think if my program would work, I just wrote the code and knew in the back of my head it would compile in some fashion…I didn’t have that luxury at my internship.
Given that I was blessed to have this experience its only fair I share my knowledge with others. Without boring you all, the one thing I would recommend to next years interns is don’t be afraid to ask your superiors for help. At the beginning I was very cautious of the questions I had in fear of sounding stupid. Then, one day my boss asked me a question I would deem ‘stupid’ and I realized…wow they’re humans too. Ultimately the point of the internship is to learn, and one of the best ways to learn is to ask questions. Put your pride aside and ask questions if you need help or explanation.
As far as accomplishing my goals for the summer, I accomplished more than I every thought of. I went in just wanting to learn as much as possible in that 3 month span. I learned more than I ever thought I would, was able to contribute meaningful parts to the project, and walked out with a return offer.
As surprising as it may sound, getting a return offer might be one of the least impactful parts this internship had on my career development. After I went to the San Francisco trek I told everyone I would never work at a start-up. Sure enough I ended at a startup-ish business this summer for my internship…and I loved it. I realized it wasn’t all start-ups that I didn’t like, just ones in San Francisco where the culture is quite different. Beyond that, I made some extremely valuable connections with my co-workers who are willing to help me ultimately achieve my goal of working for the FBI post graduation. Lastly, I learned a lot about the cyber security field. I always said I wanted to do cyber security, but I had never really done cyber security. Now I can wholefully say I want to do cyber security.
Thanks again to the OPCD for affording me this opportunity, it was a blast!
Best,
Kyle
