May 8th, 2015 (Week 14)

This was the last week of the internship. We had the last three final presentations; I went with Kevin presenting our Google Site and documentation on Client Support. I was really nervous at first, but managed to pull through by giving it my all and trying to incorporate the audience members into the presentation. I must say, it’s been a long way since the beginning.

The internship has changed me for the better, allowing me to better myself as an individual. At the start of my employment, I only knew a few consultants and senior consultants. I was also a little shy when dealing with users because I was not very knowledgeable on the services. Wanting to be in the healthcare field in the future, this is problem because it requires constant contact with patients. However, after working and acquiring the skills needed to provide users with the best customer service, I became more confident in myself and felt more approachable. From watching how the senior consultants work and how they were being exemplary leaders, I wanted to gain leadership skills and be like them. They were able to help users effectively, which is a skill that I value and hope to master. After taking the internship, I began to develop more of a leading role in my group presentations in my classes. I learned how to work better collaboratively with other people as well. I became more comfortable and less shy and reserved as I normally was in the classroom setting.

I feel that what changed me the most was working at Help Desk. It allowed be to communicate more effectively when dealing with real life issues. With my brother in Arizona, I am the only one in my family that can speak English fluently. Therefore, I am usually the one to call the companies when we get charged extra or there is a problem with our service. Working at Help Desk, I have to be attentive as to learn about what the issue might be and think of a way to fix it on the spot. It requires a lot of critical thinking and application of knowledge. Shadowing at the Main Library SINC site has also allowed me to further develop my leadership skills through delegating tasks and ensuring everything is running smoothly.

Overall, I felt I grew as a personal academically, socially, and professionally. I will continue to improve the skills I acquired while working at TLT to improve my customer service. I know that I will need them in the future when I go out into the real world. I will also treasure the friendships that were formed during this journey as we grow as individuals and become the people who we strive to be. The journey is not over; it has just begun.

May 3rd, 2015 (Week 13)

Roth Regatta was this past Friday! I must say it was an incredible experience. It was my first time participating and watching the event. Under the direction of Jim and several of the other senior consultants, the other interns and I built our boat in the shape of Appa, the sky bison featured in the popular cartoon Avatar: The Last Airbender. We named her The Unst-APPA-ble and she will be forever remembered. Although we made it past the first round, our beloved boat sank in the second and our sailors had to abandon ship. Despite the tragedy, I had a memorable experience with the other TLT members during the whole process.

We collaborated and put our minds together to create something out of just cardboard, duct tape, and paint. I had to provide the venue to build the boat in, which was Main Lounge in Gray College, and was there during all the boat building sessions. There was constant running, getting supplies and making sure we were on track with time. When we were building the boat, I think what kept us together was the delegation of tasks. Rather than have everyone work on the same thing, we had some people building the base, the head, and the sides. When the structure of the boat was finished, we had some people work on the costumes while others painted. I think organization divvying the work up was what allowed us to finish on time. I think this relates to being a senior consultant in that it requires being able to assign tasks to other consultants to make sure everything is running smoothly in the SINC sites. If someone is better at handling duct tape, then they were given the task of waterproofing the cardboard. People who were slightly more artistic helped with the costumes. However, if someone wanted to help out or practice a different task they were able to learn from the other consultants. This way, everyone can have a chance to develop their skills without being chained to only what they are good at.

What I loved about Roth Regatta was that our team spirit was strong! Many consultants stopped by to give their support during the race. We were all committed as a team to make our boat float, but our main goal was just to have fun! We had an amazing time and the smiles on our faces in our pictures is evidence. I am definitely doing this again next year!

April 26th, 2015 (Week 12)

It’s been a pretty good week! I’ve been practicing more at Help Desk and at Main Library. At Help Desk, I can handle phone calls, emails, and the occasional chats that come in. I’ve been able to Footprint everything with little to no help. At Main Library, my mentors have allowed me to take over the desk. I have been practicing delegating tasks to other consultants so that I can manage the front desk. Overall, I feel like everything is falling into place. After a few more times of practice, the kinks will smooth out.

As for internship class, we’ve started the final presentations! We managed to get through four groups who did their projects on DoIT, Educational Technology- AV Services, TLT Instructional Technology, and TLT Faculty Center. To be honest, I did not know that some of these divisions exists within DoIT. I was a wonderful experience learning about the different groups and their roles in running the services on campus. It was also great to watch my fellow interns present and showcase their skills. I loved how everyone was professional, informative, and engaging at the same time. My final presentation with Kevin is in two weeks! I feel like the pressure is on to do well. I think my biggest challenge is being charismatic. Tara said that we needed to engage the audience by starting with a personal anecdote or question. Kevin and I figured out how to do that. However, I’m worried about being nervous and blanking out in front of everyone. I’ll just have to stay calm and try my best!

On a side note, we’ve been working on the Roth Regatta boat! It’s coming along great! We have the base down and most of the sides up. Jim has planned two more days of intense building before the contest! I feel like I have bonded more with my fellow interns and the senior cons over this project. Can’t wait to see the finish product and watch our boat successfully cross Roth Pond!

April 19th, 2015 (Week 11)

This week was extremely hectic for me!!! I had a lab report, the mock final presentation for the internship, and an exam all this week. I’m glad I made it through in one piece!

Anyways, to start off the week I continued to carry out the duties at the Help Desk. I’m getting more comfortable with answering the phone. I can now talk calmly with out stuttering or stumbling over my words. I also remember to take down the callers information so that I can Footprint any issue. For me, it takes practice to get the hang of things. As for emails and chats, I am okay with answering and Footprinting them. For my shadowing hours at Main Library SINC Site, I am getting used to delegating tasks to student consultants. In the beginning, I felt weird telling people what to do because I prefer handling and helping users myself. However, I understand that as a Senior Consultant I need to man and help anyone that comes to the front desk and keep a look out for the consultants on SBConnect.

In the internship class this week, we visited the ECC Building, home of the DoIT Training Facility. This is where I met Gru’s doppelganger! Our tour guide was Behzad Barzideh, the DoIT Senior Architect. He took us through the top secret headquarters of the school’s networking system. Aside from looking like the real life version of Gru in the Despicable Me, Behzad has the same booming voice and accent as the cartoon character. Sadly, he doesn’t know who Gru is because he has never watched the movie. Just like Gru, he also knows a lot about technology. We were taken around and shown the different rooms that house the equipment that run the schools wireless network, TV, and phone systems. I never knew that it would require so much extra tech to keep the machines running. There are ventilation systems all around the rooms. Aside from the networking room, there are other rooms for supplying battery power and converting that power for use by the machines. Behzad also taught us how networks work. There are machines stationed at certain distances so that they can pass signals along. This applies to something called “access points”. I recognized the little white boxes around the residence halls. They help users connect to the network via WiFi and are given commands through one of the two central command systems.

I felt it the ECC tour was really interesting and fun. We got to see how the university runs such a large network to keep the SINC sites running. TLT’s services rely heavily on the condition of the systems in the ECC building. Therefore, I feel it is important to have at least a little background information and knowledge of how the SINC sites are maintained virtually. Overall, I really enjoyed the tour!

We also started on the boat for Roth Regatta this week!!! We are probably going to do a character from “Avatar: The Last Airbender”. I have not watched the movie but I’m sure the character choice was good! Jim, Jeff, Frank, David, Kristin, Jessica and I started waterproofing the boards. It was a great experience working together and bonding with the other consultants! I can’t wait till we finish the boat!

April 12th, 2015 (Week 10)

Wowwwwwww! I can’t believe its been 10 weeks since the start of the internship. I realized I have come very far and have learned a lot as an intern shadowing the senior consultants. While shadowing at Help Desk, I have been more efficient and comfortable receiving and answering phone calls. I don’t stutter as much as I use to and I can help some of the users and answer most of the questions. I have also been more efficient at making Footprints and answering emails as well. One thing I need to work on is multitasking.

One problem I faced in this past week’s shadowing hours was managing between the emails, Velaro, and the phone. While I was in chat with a user who needed help with retrieving her emails from her old MySBMail account, I received a phone call from an instructor who wanted to confirm her reservation at the Computer Science SINC Site. Adrienne had already started the chat so I had to catch up with the conversation. However, she had to run to Rose and Pam’s office to sort out the reservation business. Meanwhile, I also had to make sure the user on the phone didn’t hang up and that I was getting the emails finished. I was unsure about what to do with the user on the chat, as I had never encountered problems with MySBMail before. The user ended up leaving the chat while I was helping the user on the phone. It was difficult managing between two users who needed help. Generally, the user on the phone receives priority even if they called after another user started a chat. I should have apologized to the user on the chat and asked her to wait while I tried to find out more about her situation. I know next time what to do and what not to do.

On another note, I was really taken by surprise when we took a tour to Frey Hall. The internship class met at Frey 109 to see the testing center the school had constructed to standardize test taking. I understand that it is an efficient and almost fool-proof way to prevent cheating. However, the testing room gave me a very institutionalized and caged feeling. I feel it would be good to have these test centers for standardized exams, not small/medium course exams. We also got to see the neat technology installed in various rooms in Frey. In a specific room on the 2nd floor, there were cameras and microphones equipped all over the classroom. DoIT wants to implement online courses with students from all over the SUNY next work. For example, a professor from California could teach a class of students from Stony Brook, Buffalo, and Albany at the same time. I thought this was really cool and had not idea that Stony Brook had been doing this long ago. I feel there are a lot of other services that we have not learned about. I am looking forward to the next internship class and the Roth Regatta!

April 5th, 2015 (Week 9)

This week’s shadowing hours ran smoothly. I was given control over the Help Desk once again, and I was able to answer a call or two without the help of Medha or Lillian. I feel that I am getting the hang of answering phone calls now.

I also sat in on an interview this week. It was interesting being in the perspective of the interviewer rather than the interviewee. For me, it was hard to be a harsh judge. I really have to pay attention to how the candidates work together and how they perform in a group. I also have to try and picture how they would treat users and address problems that a consultant might face. Overall, it was an enlightening experience that I grow from.

For this week’s internship class Steven, Celia, and Victoria showed us how to use html tags! I was always interested in learning how to format websites and add content to my e-Portfolio. However, I have never tried looking up how to do it. Using html reminds me of the time I took computer science classes in high school. I would always have to create a tag, add content, and then close the tag. The senior consultants’ presentation was informative and easy to follow. It seems very similar to what we will be doing when we give workshops to other consultants. I like how the documentation was helpful in catching me up with everyone else when I got stuck on a certain step. The documentation was organized and simple to follow as well. I will be noting these tips when working on my own workshop and documentation.

March 28th, 2015 (Week 8)

Classes and shadowing hours resumed after spring break! Although I wish break had been longer, I was looking forward to learning more from the senior consultants.

This week, Help Desk shadowing was a little terrifying for me. Lillian allowed me to answer chats and emails from users that needed help and fill Footprint tickets for them. There weren’t any calls that came in during that time. During my shadowing hour with Medha, she once again gave me complete control over Help Desk. One or two users had trouble and contacted the HD through email. However, there was a user that called about needing a toner in the Staller building in the Music department room 3321. I answered the phone and gave the user the proper greeting, but I forgot to mention my name. On top of that, rather than asking the user to hold while I checked if the room was supported by TLT, I just said I would be able to send someone there later and ended the call. I think this was the first phone call that I had to answer without the help of Medha, and I made quite a few mistakes. Medha was able to guide me through what I was supposed to do after. What I should have done was told the user to hold while I checked the document on Blackboard to see if the room is supported by TLT. Then, ask for her name and information for the Footprint ticket. Luckily, I checked and the room was supported by TLT.

I think I have problems with answering the phone because there is no time to really think about what I need to do. I have the give the user a response almost instantaneously. Therefore, I really need to know what to do and how to do it in the most efficient way. I also need to pay close attention to what the users say so I can catch the little details that can give me clues about how I can help them. For me, it’s harder to work on the phone than on the chat and email because I have time to think about what to do and to look things up for the other two. Overall, I need more practice with answering the phone and applying what I know to help the users. I hope I can work more on that during shadowing hours!

March 19th, 2015 (Week 7)

This week, I continued my shadowing hours at the Help Desk and at the Main Library SINC Site. For Help Desk, I continued to help Medha with listening on her phone calls and chats and with Footprints. I also had to make up 2 hours of shadowing I missed because of the snow day. I spent one shadowing hour with Sharon and the other with Celia, who was subbing in for Hilton. Celia taught me about the email and email account procedures that site managers must follow to keep their sites and consultants organized.

Each site manager has a Gmail account specific to their site. Most of the site managers use their own stonybrook.edu accounts to keep updated, however, they still keep tabs on the site email account. Celia showed me how she organized the emails into different labels, such as Sub, TLT, and Site. It seemed to be very useful in helping her with scheduling and checking subs. This made me think of how my own account was organized. I noticed that all of the senior consultants have organized tabs on their accounts. I just leave everything in my inbox, regardless of whether it is from the school or from TLT. It makes everything cluttered and hard to locate. I realize that I need to organize my own account if I want to make sure I don’t miss anything important. This week, I’m going to start making tabs for all of the different emails I receive. It might take a while to sort through them all. In the long run, it will make my life that much easier.

For the internship class, we had two staff members of the library give a presentation. They taught us how to utilize the online research database that the school has purchased access to. I have used it before for my lab reports and papers. However, they were very helpful in showing us step-by-step how to navigate around the website. I find this useful, especially since users do not know that there is a difference between TLT and the library. Users assume that we are part of the same department and ask for help with both software and library services. By knowing how to use the website, we can help more users when they approach us. Overall, I enjoyed the presentation and learned how to be more efficient in using the tool.

March 1, 2015 (Week 5)

I had an eventful session this week in the internship! I was able to actually carry out the duties of a Help Desk technologist, even only as an assistant. Medha let me handle a chat with a user while guiding me through the whole process. The user wanted to if it was possible to upload a PDF onto Blackboard for an assignment. In the Velaro chat, Medha and I walked the user through the steps of making a post on Discussion Board. After we finished with the user we documented our job on Footprints, which I was able to fill out. I was glad that Medha gave me the opportunity to carry out a task as a technologist. It really gave me a feel for what the job entails and how to interact with the user. She also told me that I will answer the next call that comes in. However, she will put it on speaker so that she can help me if needed. I feel quite nervous for this because I find it somewhat intimidating having to remain calm and collected while focusing on most of the details the caller provides. I have had to answer phone calls when I was a Unit Assistant at Beth Israel Medical Center. It was sometime hard to catch what the caller said and I often found myself blanking out. The person on the other side of the line expected me to know what I was doing, which made me feel pressured since I was just a high schooler at that time. I feel that practicing and knowing about the TLT services will help me improve my skills.

For this weeks internship class, we visited the Fine Arts SINC Site and the Fine Arts Hybrid Lab. It was my first time both labs. I thought it was really cool how we had so many gadgets and electronics for the arts! I take MUS 119: The Elements of Music. It requires that we write some music for homework assignments. I think that I will go there to use the keyboard and compose music. During the session, we were able to test it out on the computers. The keyboards are shorter than normal, so they will take some getting used to. Overall, I think it is great that the school has programs for those in the arts/music programs! Moreover, I really enjoyed the interactive experience we had with the media lab and the tour. I look forward to discovering more about what the university and TLT has to offer. The more I learn, the more knowledge and information I have to help users around campus!