The TEALS 2k18 fair introduced me to many new events, companies, and opportunities in the tech realm. I also got to learn a lot about the careers in technology as well as interact with many new people.
I especially enjoyed exploring the booths of the many companies and colleges that are currently working with technology! Some of the booths I went to were Facebook TechStart, MIT, Tableau, Nintendo, Carnegie Mellon and Disney Tech. The first booth I visited was the Nintendo Booth. There I got the opportunity to play their marble game. For this game I was given a small controller which acted like a box on the Nintendo screen. The controller would create marble rolling like vibrations. Through the vibrations, I was supposed to guess the number of marbles that are in the box which was displayed on a screen. It is pretty awesome that technology helps us create so many games like this one. Without technology, there would be no Candy Crush or Temple Run or even Fortnite! I personally really liked the Tableau booth most, where the Tableau representatives presented their software which collected data and created a visual representation of it. The software even allows the user to choose different visual representations of the data. From bar graphs to histograms to pie charts. I mean how cool is that! In their demonstration they visualized the data of how many times all song have been played on Spotify. I learned how this data can be used to determine what the most popular song is, as it would be played the most. This got me thinking on different ways data is used. For example, sometimes I visit a travel website and after that Google or YouTube show me advertisements for that exact site I visited. All this is possible because of our internet activity data. All in all, it was fascinating to see how many companies are working with technology and what a crucial role technology has in today’s world.
After exploring all the booths, I also listened to a talk by Dr. Vince Bertram, the author of Dream Differently. He inspired everyone to think of ideas that will add value to the world. He explained that ideas that do well always solve a problem and usually bring two concepts together. He brought up the example of Uber. Uber brought technology and driving together, and solved the problem of transportation. Additionally, he described the difference between a hobby and a passion. For example, my hobby would be dance which I enjoy doing as an extra-curricular activity, but my passion lies in computer science which I go out of my way to learn. Dr. Vince Bertram motivated everyone to keep a hobby but along with the hobby to work hard on a passion. Furthermore, he inspired me to utilize all the resources available to me. He especially stressed how great the internet is to utilize. His talk was very insightful!
Also, I got the opportunity to listen to a panel on High School internships. I learned a lot about how I can help with technology as a teen today. Also, this panel revealed details on many technology based internship opportunities here in Seattle. The panel included representatives from Microsoft, Google, Expedia, and a college student who has internship experience. I learned that Microsoft has a High School internship program for juniors and seniors, where a student can get hands on experience working as an engineer. Microsoft also holds a three day boot camp over the summer for High School students to learn more about the STEM field and participate in STEM projects. Additionally, Expedia has a summer apprenticeship for juniors and seniors in high school as well. However, Google holds internship opportunities only for students in college. Google not only has internship opportunities but they also host Computer Science Summer Institute (CSSI). Through this institute, students are introduced to a rigorous program where they learn programing’s basic principles. Also, all the three panelists explained that students who show interest and passion to learn, always make it through their interviews and do well as interns. This panel encouraged me to study and experiment more with technology and eventually, next year, apply for an internship!
Overall, this experience at TEALS really taught me a lot and presented the many ways technology surrounds us. It demonstrated how much of an important role technology has in today’s world. In conclusion, I would like to thank TEALS for such a wonderful experience. I had a great time learning new things and I would love to attend the next TEALS fair!
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