Reflecting paper 4

This paper will cover the fourth 50 hours of my time, while interning at the Newport News Shipyard, as a part of the PPPY squad. Over the last 50 hours, I became close to the intern, used the giant white board extensively, and was able to practice my hand at SQL code programming and database management. I learned a lot this week, I felt very involved as an important member of the team, and I was forced to be very self-sufficient. It was a little slower at times, but I felt accomplished by the end of the 50 hours. Let me tell you about it.

I was tasked with finding and fixing a problem in our database. It was outputting a document file, that did not have all the information they wanted on it. I had to figure out what it was doing, where it was going wrong, and how to fix it. The entire assignment was centered around Microsoft Access and SQL programming language. I used all the learning I did about the two topics from the previous week, to begin debugging and problem solving. However, my task was not the most challenging part of the last 50 hours, but the environment I was working in.

I am used to having a mentor over me, named Nathan Hunter, who taught me everything I know, and had trained me and given me tasks up until now. Over the past 50 hours however, him and three other coworkers, one of which wrote the code and made the database I was working with, were attending a class. This meant I had to go directly to my boss for instructions, who is not as rigid or clear with instructions. I had to go to him, get the task, and then ask for further instructions or clarity when I needed it. Learning how to be self-sufficient was difficult enough, but then another wrench was thrown into the situation, the new intern.

The intern arrived on Monday and me and one of my coworkers went to pick him up. He is a very nice guy, taking the same classes as me and shares my same major. We have gotten to be good friends, and due to Nathan being gone, I have acted as his mentor. I did my best to train him and share with him the same information that was shared with me. I sent him documents to read, I gave him tasks to do, and I helped him setup his equipment and software, so that he could start doing work as well. Having the responsibility of another intern, while working on a major task, without being able to talk to the person who wrote the code or made the database, all with limited instructions from my boss, made some hours rather stressful. So, I turned to my new best friend, the white board.

Our wall is made out of a white board material, allowing us to write all over the entire wall. I took this to my advantage and began writing out code, mapping out solutions, and having my boss draw and write out his expectations. This allowed me and others to analyze the same code and problem solve together, while also being able to nail down a clear objective. After I did that, I was able to work much more efficiently, and was able to write a program and make a new table in the database, that works just like my boss wants it to work. There are a still a few pieces missing before it is perfect, but I will have to wait until my coworkers comes back from his class so I can discuss it with him.

Overall, I faced and learned a lot this week. I dealt with a quiet office and the faced the responsibility of tackling a major project while also training a new intern. This forced me to collaborate more with others apart of the PPPY squad and has made me a much more knowledgeable and proficient team member. I look forward with completing my project next week and have a feeling I will be doing more tasks with databases in the future, now that they know what I can do. They keep mentioning that they want me to become a co-op, which I am extremely greatly for and look forward to. I am hoping things go back to normal once everyone is back in the office and I look forward to the next 50 hours.