John Serdy – IT Internship

Hey! My name is John and I’m currently an intern at Garden Spot’s technology help desk. Through my internship, I have gained a greater insight into the possibilities for my future career, and given me valuable experience that I can use in the real world. Through being mentored by Mr. Bowman, a Garden Spot Desktop Support Specialist, and help from other employees within the technology department, I’ve learned valuable skills ranging from hardware repair, software updates, and on-site troubleshooting. These skills have proved invaluable for my day-to-day duties and projects.

My main responsibility is performing hardware repairs for malfunctioning student computers. Ranging from battery replacements, broken trackpads, shattered screens, or bent hinges, I’ve learned to quickly and efficiently fix any problem so students can have their computers returned to them as soon as possible. For some issues the fix can be fairly labor intensive, a broken keyboard can take up to 15 minutes to fix, requiring me to open up the student’s computer, remove the motherboard, and place it inside a brand-new laptop shell from storage. The number of broken computers also varies each day. At the start of the year, repairs occupied 100% of my time, but as the semester progressed, I found myself with the freedom to work on side projects and assignments between repairs.

One side project has been preparing for the upcoming tech sale, an ongoing process that I’ve been chipping away at since early September. It started with me factory resetting every spare student and teacher computer lying around in storage, (which is packed with racks filled to the brim with spare laptops). This was a simple but time-consuming process, requiring me to demonstrate my knowledge of the inner workings of Windows computers. From there, the process of removing stickers and physically cleaning computers is what I am currently working at currently, you’d be surprised at how difficult peeling stickers really is. The goal is to have as many teacher and student computers as possible ready to be sold by winter, and if I continue at the pace I am currently, there should be plenty in stock!

This experience so far has been incredibly eye-opening and valuable, providing me with not only practical experience for what could very likely be a future job but also an increased sense of direction in my future career goals in the technology field. I’ve discovered what I enjoy and don’t enjoy about careers in tech, and will use that to help guide how I work with technology in the future. Not to mention the boost this has given me for both my college applications and potential future resumes! I’m very grateful to all of the staff that I have worked closely with for not only their guidance, but their friendliness and willingness to treat me not as a student, but as an adult and coworker. I can’t wait to see where the rest of the year takes me, and look forward to the unique opportunities that I now hold thanks to my experience working here!