Starting off the last week of my Metro Government internship, Jason Ballard, the director of the Information Technology department invited several interns to lunch as a way to thank us for our contributions over the summer. During that time, we all took turns discussing a little about ourselves including our majors, some of the projects we conducted or assisted, and the type of career we see ourselves in after college. In the process, I got to hear another UK student’s prospective on her internship for an Integrated Strategic Communication degree, working for the Metro TV department. Some of her projects consisted of assisting local news stations and creating connections between them. Mr. Ballard then spoke about his past education and how he reached his leadership role. It was interesting to learn it took him years to achieve his computer science degree since he joined the U.S. Air Force to help pay for his education. Through that time, he worked in different information technology positions that led him up to his present management position. I believe this was an excellent opportunity to continue building connections with management that could help me with future employment.
For the remainder of the week, I focused on finishing minor tasks since I was getting closer to leaving. Checking the categories of the data sets for accuracy within Louisville’s open data portal from last week took up a large amount of time, but I made corrections so they can be better organized and found by users. I also got the chance to help the web team choose a new background image for the homepage of Louisvilleky.gov after searching through databases of high resolution pictures of the downtown area. It was impressive to be asked for my input of what would look best.
As the end of my summer internship approached, I realized how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to gain some experience for a career beyond college. Over the course of eight weeks observing and working in different areas of IT, it will help me make a decision for the path I will choose after I return and take more of my major classes in this upcoming semester. As someone who has grown up in Louisville, it was fascinating to learn about the processes running the city government while working for a highly respected department.
For the remainder of the week, I focused on finishing minor tasks since I was getting closer to leaving. Checking the categories of the data sets for accuracy within Louisville’s open data portal from last week took up a large amount of time, but I made corrections so they can be better organized and found by users. I also got the chance to help the web team choose a new background image for the homepage of Louisvilleky.gov after searching through databases of high resolution pictures of the downtown area. It was impressive to be asked for my input of what would look best.
As the end of my summer internship approached, I realized how thankful I am to have had the opportunity to gain some experience for a career beyond college. Over the course of eight weeks observing and working in different areas of IT, it will help me make a decision for the path I will choose after I return and take more of my major classes in this upcoming semester. As someone who has grown up in Louisville, it was fascinating to learn about the processes running the city government while working for a highly respected department.