Alex Jeannite is 2020 Tech Fellows majoring in computer science and interned at Tampa Bay Wave.
The take-aways from my internship with Tampa Bay Wave are actually quite interesting. It has been a journey of internal struggle and professional development, honestly. I have learned quite a bit about myself and from a professional stand point. The first thing I learned is that I truly do enjoy working from home rather than in a office. I’m more of a hermit type of person. I work best when I am in a comfortable environment and quite often office environments are stuffy and tense. At home I can work at my on pace and personalize my desk as much as I want. The best part about this is being able to turn my music up and play my favorite artists and rap along without having to mumble under my breath.
Something that I have improved on quite a bit during my internship is email etiquette and follow ups with said emails. I realized that it’s a lot harder to get in contact with people over email while everyone is home because internet connections and what not. The way that I have gone about improving my email etiquette is putting the most eye catching information in the beginning of the email. As I approach the middle of my email, I start to sprinkle the more boring less important details in and as the ending approaches I slowly start to increase the interest in the email. I guess I think of it as a reverse sandwich if that makes sense.
Working with Tampa Bay Wave has been quite fun. The hardest part of this experience for me was finding the motivation to start my work, but once I found it I would be able to work for quite a while. I do miss the human interactions in the office because it makes it easier to connect with your office mates. I made some great connections during this internship but I feel as if I could have done even more if it was in person. For some reason, virtual calls and phone calls have always made me uncomfortable and I can’t really explain why that is. I’ve also learned quite a few new development skills and I am hoping to put them into practice in my spare time when I start some more personal projects. I also got quite a few tips as well! I’ve actually taken to cataloging all of the tips that I’ve gotten just so that when I get distracted on my journey I can go back and read them to regain focus.
In terms of my next steps, I have a couple of things that I will be doing. The first will obviously be updating my resume followed by picking up an algorithms and automation class. After that, I will start working on some personal project and finishing up the remaining pieces of my research so I can wrap it up all nicely. Currently, I am talking with the CEO of a Florida-based cyber security firm and they are possibly looking to have me intern for them and also possibly be my mentor as well. This is still up in the air but I am excited nonetheless.
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