Name – Lauren Faris
Occupation – Dual enrolled student and general intern at IT-oLogy.
What intrigues you about IT? – My whole life I have loved everything technology related. Everything is headed towards IT, so it is a great field to be immersed in.
What steps did you take to get into the field (classes workshops etc)? – As far as the academic side goes, I have taken multiple coding classes at home. I also attended the Governor’s School for Science and Math for astrophysics one summer, and there were lots of IT related workshops there that I was a part of. Additionally, I have taken several steps to further my IT knowledge in my personal life. My dad and I started building robots when I was about 8 years old, and I have been interested in them ever since. We then started a robotics team with a couple of my homeschooled friends. My first ever “job” was doing freelance computer maintenance at my father’s company when I was about 15 years old. I worked on both hardware and software while I was there. Just replacing parts out of computers and understanding how to correctly and efficiently handle software is a great gateway to getting started in IT. After I had a concrete knowledge in computers, I started making customized ones for people.
How are you using your IT skills now? – Currently, I am the general intern at IT-oLogy, so I use my IT skills every day. This applied skillset ranges from working with laptops, robots, circuitry, and many other projects.
What are your goals for your career in IT (short term and long term)? – I am still deciding what I want to do when I grow up. However, I know one thing for certain: I want to work with IT in the future. Whether it be through an engineering degree with a computer science minor or solely a computer science major, IT will be integrated into the field I go into. I am very excited to be able to use the skills I already know in this area of work, and hopefully acquire new ones with every step of life.
Who inspired you and continues to inspire you (bosses, teachers, bloggers, notables)? – My father was my biggest inspiration for being so captivated in IT. He was the one who initially nurtured my interest for this field. He was always so willing to give me new ways of looking at life not only in IT, but through all aspects of it. I will never be able to thank him enough for that because if it were not for him, I don’t know that I would be in the position that I am in today. All of the staff at IT-oLogy also inspires me every day that I am here. They are a great group of people to work with, and they were always providing me with new challenges to face that help further my knowledge even more. The IT-oLogy employee that I would most notably like to thank is Jon Bartschi, whom has treated me no less than a daughter.
What resources do you use? – There are lots of free open source websites out there that are great for entry level enthusiasts of IT. Two of my favorite websites are Codecadamy and Khan Academy.
What certifications do you have or certifications do you want to achieve? – A “certificate” that I would like to achieve in the next few years will be my graduating diploma with an IT related major.
What would be your advice to someone who wants a career in IT? – Start learning! It doesn’t matter how much you know now, if you simply take the time to start learning any of the many, many subcategories under the broad spectrum of IT, you will be bettering yourself.
Anything else you would like to add? – I hope that everyone who is reading this takes the time to learn a little more IT everyday.