My Internship in Information Technology
Story by Robert Williams. Photo by Marcel Gallion.
FNN Tech Prep Bureau: Summer 2014. Have you ever wanted to learn how to replace a computer screen without sending the computer out to the company that manufactured it? Have you ever wished that you could recover your computer’s data with only a flash drive? I’ve learned how to do these things and more during my internship at the Chamberlain campus of Friendship Public Charter School. I had an immense amount of fun and managed to update many computers for students and teachers alike. My teacher/supervisor, Mr. Michael Moore, was a great instructor, helper and even friend to me.
On the first day of my internship, Mr. Moore gave me a friendly tour of the Chamberlain campus, where I met Summer Learning Academy and extended school year teachers. During the tour, I found out about the Friendship Smart Cookies program—a program for gifted and talented Friendship students that demonstrates true excellence. For lunch, we had burrito bowls from the Chipotle on 8th Eastern Market Metro station.
On the second day, which was actually the following Monday (due to the Independence Day holiday), I learned how to create a recovery drive for a Samsung Chromebook. All you have to do is place a USB stick in the computer and open Google Chrome on the Chromebook, type chrome://imageburner into the address bar and wait for the Chromebook to recognize the USB stick. Once the device recognizes the USB stick, you click “OK” so you can download all the files and everything onto the USB stick. After the computer says that it's ready, you remove the USB stick and go on with your daily business. I learned that a recovery stick for a Samsung Chromebook will not work for an Acer Chromebook and vice versa. Afterwards, I learned how to use the recovery drive for re-imaging and recovering a Chromebook’s data. If it isn’t already in need of recovery, you press the “Escape” key, the “Refresh” key (the rotating arrow) and the “Power” key, to send it into recovery mode. Then, you insert the recovery drive that you already created.
On the second full week, I learned how to re-image a Windows computer using Ghost by deploying an image onto a computer or set of computers and using the image as your new operating system.
During my internship I grew close with some of the teachers and even a few of the administrators. I got to fix some teachers’ internet connections, re-image teachers’ laptops and even replace a desktop’s damaged hard drive. One of the teachers, Ms. Parker, gave me some advice to help me with life and future employment. By the time I was done, I was like any child in an amusement park having a good time: I wished not to leave the venue and wanted to stay with these people. I will never forget this experience and I may visit the Chamberlain campus again during the school year to simply see how everyone is. I wish to work with Mr. Moore again next summer.
Robert Williams is a senior at Friendship Tech Prep Academy. Marcel Gallion is a junior in the Friendship News Network summer program.