Dr. Willis mentioned in his programming class that the MIS program at
Baylor is designed to provide you with a strong foundation so that the company you
begin your career with will be able to teach more specifically about their industry
and the processes they use. What I
learned in my first year of
graduate school was expanded
upon by USAA and my on-the-job
training began from day one.
At Baylor, thus far, I have
learned about different software
development methodologies,
object-oriented programming,
networking, the Software
Development Life Cycle (SDLC)
and many other topics. I assumed
that during my internship I would learn more about one or two of these subjects,
but I had no idea that I would apply almost
everything that I learned in my first year of
graduate school. I was actually able to create
a web application that provides real value for
the company, through the steps of the SDLC. I
turned in parts of my project within the
structure of one of the software
methodologies I learned about in Analysis &
Design. I was able to code my application in a
language I had not studied before and work
on hardware I had not worked on before
because of the foundational knowledge that I learned in the MIS program at Baylor.
Additionally, I learned about building an application on a team and with a deadline.
It was fast paced and a ton of fun!
There were also events set
aside just for having fun with other
interns. We were able to play
volleyball, kickball, meet with
company executives and learn
more about serving USAA’s
members and life in San Antonio. I
think that what I learned this
summer will only help me as I
pursue a career where I get to
contribute to a team from a
technical and/or managerial
perspective.