I enrolled in the Brooklyn Tech Triangle Internship Program for many reasons but my main interest was getting real world experience and to learn what tools the web development field is currently using. This 3-month internship gave me an opportunity to gain hands on experience in the field, something that I could not get sitting in a classroom. Learning by doing is something I feel is a great advantage, especially in a field that is constantly evolving.
When I found out I got an internship at Radish Lab, I was excited and ready to take on the challenge. One of the toughest things for me when I started out was that I realized I needed to learn a lot of the tools and languages Radish used before I could dig into the assignments they assigned to me. In the web development field, new tools are developed at a rapid pace, which can sometimes affect the way sites are developed. My overall goal for the internship was to learn exactly what languages and tools web developers use in the field and become proficient using them. I was able to do this by working on the new agency website, which was my main project during the internship. Through this project, I was able to learn how to use Wordpress and Stylus.
I learned a lot from my internship. The ability to work closely with a team of people with at least 10 years of experience on me gave me all sorts of opportunities to learn. Having a chance to work alongside the CEO gave me insight into how a tech startup runs and all the challenges they have to tackle. During my internship, I had the chance to work with a group of people who are passionate about what they do. I was able to make connections with people in the field who will help me find a career in the field. I learned various tools and programming languages that I probably would not have learned in a lecture hall. I am so grateful to have had this experience and would encourage students to get out into their field and see what it is like outside of the classroom.
Philip is currently training to be a junior developer with Radish Lab.