Introduction to Final Paper
Introduction
When I realized that graduation was around the corner, I knew that it was time for me to take my skills and knowledge that I had acquired from my studies at Old Dominion University and place them into an organization by first becoming an intern. I will be graduating in Fall of 2023, and it was time for me to take the next step to a successful career after graduation. I applied for a great deal of internships, over thirty to be precise, for an internship for the Summer of 2023 during the Fall of 2022 semester. I had hoped to be selected for an internship because of the importance of an internship to my future endeavors, and I had one internship in particular that I had hoped to get. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond piqued my interest because of the positive reviews of the treatment of interns and the experience that they promised to provide to ensure that when the internship was finished, I would have valuable experience that would help me to obtain employment. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond internship helped me to gain experience in a valuable field and also helped me to learn facts about myself that I will not soon forget.
The task of finding an internship proved to be easier said than done, but it was my hope that my exceptional GPA and extensive work history would help me to appeal to the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The opportunity that the bank granted me will be something I am forever grateful for due to the experience that was provided through hands-on training within a corporate environment that many will not get to experience without the utilization of an internship. The benefits of an internship are not advertised, and many may not know about the importance of gaining an internship to blend the work that is done and school with the work that is done in the real world. The ability to showcase the expertise and skills that are learned from courses in college allows students to excel at an internship and is important to successfully land a prosperous career after graduation. Had I not completed an internship, I would feel as if something had been lacking in my college education but with the experience that I received at the bank I feel as if I am almost ready to take the leap into a career in my field of study.
Throughout my time in the internship, I hoped to learn a lot about sectors of information technology, but also about myself. This summer my goal was to gain experience when it comes to cloud architecture and why it is so widely adopted by so many organizations in a way that has not been seen in the past. I would also like to work on myself in terms of becoming more of a corporate professional and utilizing teamwork and the homeostasis of an environment utilizing teamwork in a way that I have not done before. The impact of Covid-19 on my personal life has made me into a homebody sheltering myself away from others, and I would like to change that and become a person who is not only part of society but a successful part of society. Covid-19 and the impacts of the virus on my personal life cannot continue to hold me back and I would like to break out of my shell and become successful in every aspect of life. The history of the bank, such as how and why it was created, are parts of this internship that pique my interest because of the complexity of what it has become. The ability to achieve all of the desired by the end of my internship would allow me to grow and become a more knowledgeable and productive member of society.
Internships are difficult to achieve for a student because they are limited in number and require certain accolades from the school in which the student is attending. The transition of lifestyle habits into something that is unknown is scary, yet it is exciting as well. Internships are a lifeline for a student who wishes to gain substantial employment upon graduation. Statistics state that 53% of students are not able to gain employment post-graduation due to lack of experience and skill. I am grateful to Old Dominion University for offering the class CYSE 368 because it helped me to realize that I need to apply for internships and the benefits of successfully completing and internship. If I had the opportunity to speak to other students, I would encourage them to apply for and internship. For students enrolled in programs such as Computer Science, Information Technology, and Cybersecurity majors I would specifically recommend the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. The bank helps to take the knowledge that students have acquired and encourage one to showcase it with the tasks that are given, the meetings attended, and the professional personnel that the student is surrounded by. As a result of the internship, the employees of the bank help a student to feel as if they are ready to take on the tasks of the real world and that you are able to successfully deal with situations that occur in real positions while equipping a student with the confidence to take on any task being thrown their way. I am thrilled to be a part of the Federal Reserve Bank National IT team as an intern and hope that after my internship and graduation I will become part of their team as I begin my journey as a Cybersecurity/Information Technology Professional.
Obtaining an internship is a difficult task, although some may not see it as so. I had personally applied to over thirty companies during my Fall of 2022 semester in the hopes that I would be selected for an internship for the Summer of 2023. The Federal Reserve Bank made that wish come true for me. The Federal Reserve Bank was founded in 1913 and is intricately entwined with the development of the American financial and economic system. The Federal Reserve System was established utilizing the Federal Reserve Act, which was signed into law by President Woodrow Wilson. This was done in order to address ongoing financial instability and a lack of coordinated monetary policy. The Panic of 1907 taught the United States the significance of having a central authority capable of providing liquidity, regulating banks, and stabilizing the economy during times of crisis. These factors led to the creation of the system of the Federal Reserve Bank. The Federal Reserve Bank provides vital services and products to the U.S. financial system including clearing checks and electronic payments, transferring funds between financial institutions, and maintaining the payment system. In order to meet demand, the Fed issues and distributes U.S. cash and coins while providing cash to financial institutions during crises as a lender of last resort. The Federal Reserve regulates and supervises banks, analyzes systemic risks, and protects the financial industry. The Fed also conducts economic research, collects data, and shares information to inform its monetary policy choices while providing economic insights. These services and products demonstrate the Federal Reserve’s essential role in U.S. financial stability and growth.
Reflections of Internship at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond
Reflection 1
After my first week of my internship at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond I knew that this was going to be one of the most important steps to my education of becoming a Cybersecurity professional in the future. I always knew that internships are beneficial for students to attend during their college career but being a part of one lets me know that is a necessity for education and personal growth. As an intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond they make you feel that you are as important as members of their staff by having you attend multiple meetings throughout the day, working on projects with teams, and helping you continue your education with learning certifications that will help launch your career. I am thrilled to be part of this organization because I know after the duration of my internship, I will have acquired addition skills and abilities that will benefit my cybersecurity career in the future.
During the first week of my internship my Manager, Mentor and Team were extremely beneficial in getting me acclimated into my role and position as a ‘CnSA’ – Cloud and Solution Architect. My manager had instructed me that I would be given a mentor to show me the ropes and help guide me in the right direction of learning and understanding how the cloud works, the services that the cloud offers, the benefits of cloud computing within the bank’s organization, and learning ‘Agile’ which is a project management methodology that emphasizes incremental and iterative project completion phases. Also, I would need to work on completing my AWS Cloud Practitioner Certification and passing the exam before my internship term was completed. I felt that they were asking a lot of me as an intern, but I also knew that it was all to help and develop me into a corporate professional with skills and knowledge that would bring out the best in me and help mold me into a Cloud and Solution Architect.
One challenge that I did find extremely difficult in my first week as being an intern was attending meetings with scrum masters, architects, developers, and engineers and hearing them discuss products and services that they were currently developing and not having a clue of what they were talking about. I had expressed this concern to my mentor and he told me not worry that It will just take time for the terminology to sink in and that I was not expected to understand what they were talking about, but adjust to the feel of the meeting to understand how they work as a team to complete a project instead of individuals only completing their task and moving on to the next. I really enjoyed the fact that they turn projects into a team effort because it benefits everyone and shows greater results without error.
I would have to say that my first week at my internship was awesome and I am nothing short of excited and thrilled to take full advantage of this opportunity and grow myself into an experienced Cybersecurity/Cloud and Solutions Architect. This organization has shown me that internships are important for educational and personal development to take yourself to the next level. Without internship opportunities, many students would finish their college education and be unsuccessful in gaining employment due to not having the proper skill set that companies look for. The Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has made me feel that I am important and has given me the confidence, tools, and personnel I need into changing me into what I need to become a Cybersecurity/Cloud and Solution Architecture expert.
Reflection 2
The third/fourth week of my internship at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond has been nothing less than a wonderful experience that I will benefit for a lifetime. This week has been my most exciting week by far. During this week I was officially assigned a project that after completion will be given to Larry Glaze, Executive Vice President & Chief Operating Officer of National Information Technology. I was also given the privilege to attend a meeting with Ghada Ijam, who is the CIO for the Federal Reserve Bank, and attend multiple informative meetings with Scrum master’s to help me understand their entire job responsibilities and what tools and software they use daily to help them complete their task. This week has inspired me to do well on the task I have been given to show that I can be of value to their organization in the future.
This week was very beneficial to me as I was given a project by my technology mentor to prepare for Larry Glaze. This assignment will consist of me creating a structured database so the members of the DeVe Operations team can go in and input data when it comes to which product they are currently working on, which team they are on, which task they are assigned to, description of the product, and planned start and end date of the project. I had originally designed this project in Microsoft Excel, but it would not be efficient enough due to the fact that the data could be altered and changed by other teams members because it would be shared amongst multiple teams members who are on the project, so I was asked to think of a way that I could create something that could allow the members to input their data without being able to make changes to other data. I did not know of any other solutions to help me complete this task, so I asked around for help from Discover Analyst and I was pointed in the direction of using this software called “SharePoint”. SharePoint is a Microsoft web-based application that allows organizations to store and organize any content and information. After I was told this information I relayed this news to my mentor, and he said that this idea was the perfect solution to completing this project.
Wednesday of this week interns were given the privilege to have a luncheon with the bank’s CIO, Ghada Ijam. Ghada is a very nice woman who is passionate when it comes to her role as CIO. She expressed her feelings to us about being the CIO and all the challenges that come with it as: migrating the bank’s databases to the cloud, keeping up with new technology, and if the bank is going to express their interest in utilizing artificial intelligence. In the end we were given the opportunity to ask Ghada a question so I decided to ask her, “What are your thoughts on the bank migrating their databases to the cloud, and do you think that It would be a safe solution in the long term?” She replied by saying, “I think that we need to migrate our databases to the cloud, it is more effective in allowing our data to be accessed more efficiently by other banks and businesses who need access to this data. After hearing her response, I feel that she is right. The cloud is the future of database storage, and it will allow companies to access that data more efficiently. The only concern I have with the cloud is that I do not know how safe it will be in the future when malicious hackers start targeting cloud infrastructure more often because of it being utilized more than what it is now.
During this week, interns who are seniors were given the chance to apply for a ‘Discover Analyst’ position at the bank that would start at the beginning of January 2024. As a Discovery Analyst, you are placed in a rotational program that allows you to work full-time in two different departments (one each year) to allow you to gain experience and a feel for each department. After your two-year tenure is up, if a position is available you are asked to apply and if the stars are in line in your favor, you may be granted full-time employment. I am extremely excited about this chance as it would allow me an opportunity to stay with the bank and have full-time employment in the future.
Reflection 3
I never thought I would say this, but I am actually going to miss writing these reflections every two weeks explaining how wonderful my experience was being an intern at the Federal Reserve Bank of Richmond. My last fifty hours of being of intern consisted of me attending a ‘Program Closing and Reflections’ conference where I was invited to give a speech on my thoughts and feelings of the internship, I was then asked if I would consider extending my internship until December 2023, I passed my ‘AWS Cloud Practitioner’ certification, and I will be assigned a mentor through the bank to be able to gain experience in AWS Cloud Architecture and DevOps. Throughout my entire internship experience at the Federal Reserve Bank, it has been everything that I wanted and more. I was able to gain experience to help elevate my understanding of cybersecurity, and cloud technologies, and elevate my resume to where it needs to be to help myself gain a career in the future.
On Thursday, August 3rd I was asked to do something that I have never done before and that was to give a speech in one of the bank’s auditoriums at the ‘Program Closing Event’. I want to admit that I was extremely nervous because I have never given a speech before in front of over two hundred people. When it was my time to go, I walked up on the stage, took and deep breath, and let my feelings flow into the mic. My speech was centered around my gratitude and thanks to my mentors, managers, and the bank for giving me the opportunity of being an intern and having such an amazing internship experience that memories will last with me and other interns forever. After my speech, I was applauded by so many people (I even had some people crying) which made me feel that I had done a great job, especially for it being my first time.
Before I left the bank on Friday, August 4th, before heading back home I was asked something by my manager that blew me away. He told me that since I had been doing a great job and the fact that I have learned so much is the short time I had been there, would I be interested in extending my internship until December as a part-time. I immediately told him “YES!” and that I was thrilled to be in an internship until December. This opportunity is something that I knew I could not turn down as I would be able to gain even more experience and be able to say that I interned with the Federal Reserve Bank for six months instead of nine weeks. When I told my mentor about the news, I believe he was more thrilled than I was. This opening has given me the chance to work on obtaining more knowledge with AWS and obtaining more certifications at the expense of the bank.
While back at home I was asked by the CIO ‘Ghada’ to attend an informational meeting about the cloud and its different use cases as well as technologies to help bank employees understand the process and why it is beneficial to gain this knowledge. After this meeting I was shocked to know that the individuals who attended this meeting were given the first opportunity to be assigned a mentor to guide and help them with understanding what technologies they would like to know about. I filled out my form and expressed my interest in a mentor who can help me understand the bank’s ways of cybersecurity and AWS Solution Architecture and DevOps. I feel that having a mentor will bridge the gaps of knowledge that are unknown and will allow me to become an expert in both information technologies disciplines in the near future.