Internship 2013 ~ THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

2. Describe your reflections on your internship project—what went well, what would you do differently, and what stands out to you?

Pictured: FUN

Looking back, my internship project went extremely well, although it's not over yet. It was a fantastic experience to be able to put my creative skills to use for a job. It gave me a great insight into what my future career could be. Programming the game was a fun challenge, and it's inspired me to learn more about programming. Working with code could be another possible career choice. I would love to start the project over with what I know now, because my mentor and I had some great ideas in the latter end of the project that we didn't have a chance to flesh out due to our looming deadlines.

3. How might you continue your internship experiences beyond the scope of the HTHMA internship? What ideas, skills, connections and so on will you bring back to the rest of your life? Will you continue working with your internship beyond January of 2011?

Pictured: My hope for the pitch

I will be continuing with my internship based on whether or not my project is picked up by their business department. My whole project up to this point has been a preview of a real app yet to be developed. Next week I pitch it to their head of business. If he likes the idea, then he'll start putting money into it, and I'll continue developing the project beyond what I've already done for it.



We're leaving together
But still it's farewell 
And maybe we'll come back, 
To earth, who can tell? 

I guess there is no one to blame
We're leaving ground (leaving ground)
Will things ever be the same again?
It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

Oh, We're heading for Venus (Venus)
And still we stand tall 
Cause maybe they've seen us
And welcome us all, yeah
With so many light years to go
And things to be found (to be found) 
I'm sure that we'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

The final countdown (final countdown).

Oh...oh

The final countdown.

Oh...oh

It's the final countdown.

The final countdown.

The final countdown. (final countdown)

It's the final countdown
We're leaving together
The final countdown 
We'll all miss her so
It's the final countdown (final countdown)
Oh, it's the final countdown.

Internship 2013 Week 3

3. You are probably more than half-way through your project. How is it going? What challenges have you faced? What have you learned? What are you doing to ensure a successful completion of your internship project.

My project is still exactly on schedule, and proceeding as planned. However, I predict rocky times ahead, as the next portion of the project involves a task I'm quite unfamiliar with: iOS video game development. It will be interesting to see what challenges arise as I proceed with this next step of the project.

OH NOOOOOOO!

5. Who benefits from the work that you do at internship? How and/or why?

The work i do at my internship may have a large impact on the business strategy the Rock takes once I'm gone. If I do my job right, then the Rock may begin work on an entirely new iPhone app designed for its younger audience, a massive undertaking to say the least.

9. Describe how experiences at HTHMA have prepared you for your experience at internship.

The projects I take part in at High Tech High are an excellent indicator of how real-life projects work. The HTH projects help me understand the amount of work required to complete my goals, how to pace myself in working, and how to communicate with others about the project's needs. These skills are all fantastic assets for me while I take on what internship requires of me.

Internship 2013: Week #2

5. How do you see your role at your internship?

I see my role as a farmer, laying the seeds for bigger things to come. The work I do here may not produce all that much just right now, but eventually it will grow into a fully-functioning iPhone app enjoyed by thousands of children.

I BEEN WORKIN ON THE RAILROAD
ALL THE LIVE LONG DAY

6. What lessons or experiences at you internship will you bring back to school to help you to further improve in your academics?

The biggest lesson I'm learning is actually to NOT work too much on things. As I work on these videos, I've found myself putting so much time into them that I've run behind schedule. I need to understand when to stop working something and move on, because with the work I do, so much of it can be finely tweaked pretty much forever.

7. What has surprised you most while working at your internship?

One of the most surprising things I've found is that time flies pretty quickly. I spend more time at work than I do at school, but frankly school felt longer. Maybe it's because I'm doing something I'm good at, and thus enjoy a bit more. Either way, it's something I need to adjust to.

AINT NO CLOCKS HERE

Internship 2013: Week #1

2. Describe the project you'll do at internship, including the skills and technology you need to do it and what you hope your project looks like as a final product.

My project will consist of pitching an app to go with the Rock's children's ministry. The app will consist of two games, a video gallery, and a collection of illustrated stories. The pitch, in addition to a mission statement and business plan, will include videos demonstrating each of the app's features, and a functional demo of one of the games. My work will mostly comprise of creating the videos and demo, though I will be contributing to the mission statement and business plan as well. I will use Flash for the videos, and Gamesalad for the demo.

6. What are you most surprised by during your first week of internship and why?

I was very surprised by how seriously the business aspect of the Rock Church is taken. The Chruch is extremely concerned with branding and professionalism. Of course, I knew they were doing something right in order to be so successful, but I didn't know how much they focused on it until I sat down with one of their business people.