Shadowing
It was a new week for shadowing for us interns. Due to agreements made prior to spring break to take multiple subs for fellow consultants, I had a slight issue with making a proper schedule for shadowing this week. Instead of the normal hours that I signed up for, which just so happened to be during my sub hours, I had to make up for multiple mentoring shifts. I realized that switching around with different mentors, although fun, is somewhat of a fruitless tactic. I should be shadowing the same individuals who can see my growth from the beginning to the end. The same Senior Consultants will be able to keep track of what I have been taught and what I still need work on. Therefore I think that it is important that I try not to miss out on my regular hours and make an effort to learn as much possible in the remaining few weeks.
Class
Today our class had the privilege of taking an informative and interactive tour of the Network Operations Center with Behzad Barzideh. Before the tour, all the current Senior Consultants told me that this was one of the highlights of the internship. They praised Behzad for his brilliance and passion. As well, they hinted that he resembled a lovable protagonist from the Despicable Me franchise. Admittedly, upon meeting Behzad, I saw the resemblance immediately. The tour was very intriguing to me, as I’ve never been behind the scenes of network operation despite being in consistent use of the services on campus. The rooms and the machinery and servers were a fun treat to examine even if I wasn’t able to comprehend every word of what Behzad said. At the end of the tour, we were able to chance upon his office, where he showed us his cool skills of tracking down any user of the Stony Brook network. I thoroughly enjoyed the tour and only wished that I had more inquiries on hand to match Behzad’s excitement over his job.