Post #2
Date: 6/16
Activities: Getting Used to Surroundings
Technical Information: //CaryNT network
Reflection: They always say the second day on the job is more important than the first, because the shock of the first day has long been worn off. Definitely not the case for me. Second day on the job, and I still have absolutely zero clue on what I would be doing. I smile awkwardly as I swipe my badge, my first real working badge, completely with lanyard and the zippy string. I got there before Alex did, and was chilling out in our office (we shared one). Vicki, our manager, was also the senior IT manager, the head honcho, the boss of the bosses... well at least in our IT division anyways. We had only met her the day before and we had no idea what to expect, she seemed chill, but all of that could probably change in an instant. Except it didn't, and probably never will. Vicki, as well as the rest of our coworkers on our floor, the basement of building E, were the most laid back people, helpful, friendly people I will probably ever meet in my entire life. Vicki never gets angry, compliments us all the time, and is always looking for new opportunities for us to do at SAS. One couldn't ask for a better manager for a high school internship.
The first thing Vicki did in the morning was take Alex and I on a tour around our floor, visiting different people. Among them was Kyle, who was also to double as our "mentor". Kyle is part of the Helpdesk Front Line team (more on that later). Kyle graduated from NC State, is super handy with his hands and athletic, but most importantly, he was experienced and helped us on numerous occasions. I truly felt like I was in a corporate environment at that point. In contrast, if I had instead worked at McDonald's, although McDonald's is also a corporate company, it wouldn't have the same feel that SAS did. I got my own desktop computer, complete with asset tag and name on it. Everything I did was being monitored, which was weird but also exhilarating at the same time. I got my own login to the CaryNT network, which is the main internal network that SAS uses. SAS have more internal webpages than I can count, but there are two main ones that come to mind: the SAS Wide Web (SWW) and The Hub. The SWW contains everything that is related to SAS. It holds everything from the campus map and cafe menus to international SAS news and video casts of Dr. Goodnight. The second major website is The Hub, which is basically like a Facebook for SAS (SASbook?), where employees could chat and discuss about work and non-work related topics.
As you can probably already tell, SAS has a very chill and relaxed atmosphere. Needless to say, for those of us stuck in the basement of IT, dress code is fairly irrelevant, since we never meet with people and customers. That being said, there are many people in my hall that where a t-shirt, khaki shorts, and flip-flops to work everyday (including managers!). However I still try to keep it somewhat professional and I wear a polo and khaki pants to work everyday. Decisions are always cooperative, with everybody contributing ideas and no idea not considered. The company's work ethic is also interestingly very strong, (I mean it has free M&M's and drinks for real), because people love what they do here at SAS, and that passion had already rubbed off onto me.
| My Office (my desk is on the left, Alex's on the right) |
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