From an Island to a Garage: Riley ’23 at Wilderness Technology Alliance
Mar 25, 2022Yeah. A garage. I’ve been working at a non-profit organization (by chance) run by my old boss from when I was in high school learning how to build my first computer. I had been interning with him 5 years ago and now I’m a “contractor” for his company, my work ranging from picking up computers, refurbishing them and even helping and talking to the elderly about their Ipads. It’s been a great experience so far and I get to dabble in different roles, whether I like it or not.
Here is a photo o a monitor our company sells on our ebay page, set up by me!
My favorite part of my co-op was the just the simple everyday technician work. Building computers has always been a passion of mine since I built my own back when I was in high school, but now I also get paid for it. Usually I’m in the garage putting in hard drives which were imaging ( The process of mass/cloning one kind of computer) the night before by my boss. I then would boot these computers up to make sure that every single one had survived the the cloning process and to set the BIOS (Basic Input/Output System which is the base of every computer) to the correct settings. recently, I’ve had to replace CMOS batteries (these keep your computer from losing the date and time when not connected to internet and hold configurations of the BIOS) This Is the same for both desktops and laptops.
Now for the other part: the customer service. Not something that I exactly wanted to do, but an important part nonetheless. Actually more of the main reason for my co-op was to be apart of the Senior Ipad Program because they only had funding to pay me if I did this, so of course, I agreed. I been told that I handle the calls really well and that customers are happy with my performance. I’ve also had some unruly people, some who wouldn’t let me get past me telling them my name. Of course, I understand because If I was an elderly person I’d probably doing something similar. This had shown me how contacting people can really be a mixed bag and has helped make me understand my fellow Line workers (like the food industry or any other job where the employee is looked down on for simple mistakes) just a bit better.
All in all, I thoroughly have a had a real amazing (and a bit stressful) coop that has opened my eyes to the less known tips and tricks of the IT industry.
My Island: DJ Riley ’23 at Antioch College IT and Media Services in Yellow Springs, Ohio
Oct 13, 2021
This is a new computer that we obtained that I just recently installed Windows 10 on. Over my past two years of working here, the majority of my time was spent upgrading our old Windows 7 computers to Windows 10, and it’s most likely the most calming part of my job.
This term during my co-op at Antioch College IT and Media Services (ITAMS), I was given a list of tasks by my employer, Kevin Stokes. Those tasks included completing the campus-wide inventory that was begun by Media Services during the fall, organize all stock computers and parts in the ITAMS office area, and track hours/tasks completed on behalf of ITAMS and Alumni Relations.
I also had to develop a list of unused and under-utilized media and facilities equipment on campus. This required coordinating with various entities to get access to the equipment and to ascertain the condition of said equipment.
Here I was working on more upgrades. It takes about 30-40 minutes to complete one laptop upgrade and then you also have to update them to the latest version of Windows to have all of our clients on the same wavelength.
Additionally, I worked with the Registrar’s Office to identify all recently withdrawn students to then be able to scrub email distribution lists and active directories by disabling and reassigning disabled accounts. On some occasions, I had to contact Antioch’s vendor to identify and remedy problems with the ManageEngine ServiceDesk Plus software as well!
This is MY computer (made it myself!) and I had wanted to try something on it with mapping network drives. I figured out how to have select people be given access to my computer/files and use what I give them (kind of like having an Airdrop except only for people on the same network as you). And it worked! I was able to play music from a file on my computer while on a friend’s laptop! Things like this really get me going and make me want to learn more.
It was often difficult to get my work done, though I was always able to in the end. Because of COVID-19, I haven’t been able to interact with Kevin as much as I would have liked. For the majority of my time in the office, I’ve been on my own, tending to the checklist. However, my hours working for him were good. He is a great boss and has been very helpful and thorough.
And that was basically my entire experience! It was better than my first co-op, but not by an insane amount. In some ways, it felt like the same kind of isolation, though now with the occasional visitor to my island. Next time, though, I might think about going somewhere else to broaden my horizons.
See you then!