Information Technology & Sciences Student Stories

I loved that Champlain had a maker space that students from every major and year could use. You could even use it for personal projects! I loved the idea of a school that would offer that, and a student body that would make use of it. I wanted to go to a school with those kinds of students.

I love how passionate all of my peers are! Everyone has so many personal side projects, so even when we finish our homework, we're still coding. The program is definitely challenging, but I never feel like I'm doing busy work.

I work at the Emergent Media Center®, and my job often overlaps with my classes in really exciting ways. I build physical components and write code for games and other interactive experiences. I have learned a lot about working on a team, and I'm much better now at figuring out new platforms and languages without classroom instruction.

I attended the Cybersecurity & Digital Forensics Summer Academy before coming to college, and that gave me a lot of hands-on experience and allowed me to work for a few weeks in the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation before I was even a Champlain student. I met some professors I'm still close with, and having that kind of encouragement gave me the push I needed to pick a career path that wasn't necessarily in the plan.

I decided to declare in Cybersecurity because that's what I enjoyed the most at the Summer Academy, and then I decided to add Digital Forensics. I knew it would be a lot more work, but I like being busy.

Yes! I studied abroad in Dublin, Ireland. We lived in a neighborhood called the Liberties. The great thing about living there is that you don't feel like a tourist. You get connected right away to the local community, and you realize that there are people living their lives there. Shopping at the local shops and staying away from the big grocery stores is very important because it allows you to get to know people in the community.

I think the most valuable and enjoyable part for me has been learning how to use graphing and prediction software to analyze different datasets. My class projects have been the most rewarding, analyzing everything from Chipotle sales to sports statistics.

At the Emergent Media Center, I worked alongside a team of other interns to research, develop, and present our findings on emerging technologies. The topics I learned about in class served as a base for me to build on during my internship experience, which also made it easy to bring the skills I learned in my internship back to class. Because of this internship, I have a fuller résumé, and I already have experience in the workforce, which will put me a step above other applicants.

I participate in Climb Champlain, our rock climbing club. I enjoy it a lot because it's a fun, full-body workout, and it fits nicely into my schedule.

BYOBiz* is a growing community of entrepreneurs. The program offers the ability to collaborate with other like-minded individuals on campus and provide a space for them to work together. At least once a month, a guest speaker—usually a business owner from the Burlington area—will come to talk about their experience in the field of entrepreneurism. 

BYOBiz also hosts events such as the Elevator Pitch and the Champlain branch of LaunchVT.

An entrepreneurial mind-set does not necessarily mean you need to go out, abandon your career, and start a business. The mind-set of an entrepreneur can be utilized in a corporate setting just as much as in your own startup. Entrepreneurism within a company is often referred to as "intrapreneurism," and it's just as valuable a skill.

I have had three internships over the last three years. My first was as a Research Assistant at the Leahy Center for Digital Investigation. Next, I worked as a software engineer for a small web firm out of Easthampton, Massachusetts. Most recently, I worked as a Security Engineer for Workday, located in Pleasanton, California.

I am a big believer that it takes time within an industry to learn the intricacies of running a business. All three of my internships taught me different ways of building a successful business.

*BYOBiz was renamed the Center for Innovation & Entrepreneurship in 2020.