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Computers are my Sandbox: Grant ’18 at Antioch College’s IT Department in Yellow Springs, Ohio

For my co-op this summer, I work with the IT department at Antioch College. I have worked in IT for a little over two years. During the past two years, I have worked with the Antioch department part time mainly handling Helpdesk tickets and troubleshooting printers. This quarter, I am doing more system administration and Server Technician work. I have learned a lot already in the one month of co-op I have had so far.

In the first week of co-op, the worst case scenario happened; the server malfunctioned and we couldn’t get into it. The server being down left the entire campus without internet for a while. Needless to say, we were receiving a lot of calls about it and we needed to get the server working again. Long story short, I was able to boot the computer in safe mode and fix it, or at least temporarily. That was a huge win for me and amplified my desire to continue learning and working with the servers.

In addition to the system admin and server work, I am also doing some sales work for the department. I have a bunch of old equipment that I am selling to the highest bidder. So far the equipment list includes 12 printers, 30 IP phones, and one iMac. There has been a bidder for the IP phones via Craigslist. I didn’t think that finding a buyer for them would actually happen as planned but there is a buyer that we are talking to now.

(These are pictures of the iMac and the old hardware that I am recycling soon.)

In my free time, I have been studying for my IT certification test and modifying my personal computer. I recently switched the CPU and motherboard and repainted the chassis. I am continuing to work on the computer when I have time and I plan to use it, in part, as a sandbox to test out the things I am learning online and at work.

(This is the finished product of the computer I painted.)

 

 

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I have a strong passion for working with computers and technology. I believe that this is due to my love of video games as a child. Whenever a piece of technology didn't work, being able to fix it meant being able to play more games. I still associate being able to help people with their computer needs with joy and I truly enjoy what I am doing in the field and at home every day. This passion led me to work as the IT specialist for the Tandana Foundation in Ecuador for my third coop. This means that I was responsible for setting up local networks and making sure everyone's devices worked as they should whenever work needed to be done with technology. This also meant that I was the go-to person for technology questions/concerns and troubleshooting. After that, I taught basic computer skills to scholarship students in Otavalo.  Now I am working and studying in Yellow Springs, OH as an IT specialist for Antioch College. In my free time after work, I study for the CompTIA A+ and Server+ certifications that I plan to take very soon. I also have a number of personal projects going on at home that includes exploring the various distributions of Linux and modding my personal computer.

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