In our data-driven age, jobs in computer science have become all the rage. And New College has plenty to offer students interested in pursuing this career path.
Case in point? New College student Haylee Millar. In May 2019, Millar began an internship with a Sarasota-based tech company called Atlas Networks—a software engineering internship, to be specific. Just about a year later, that internship turned into a job as a solutions architect for Atlas. Millar is currently finishing her thesis and plans to graduate from New College this week with a bachelor’s degree in computer science.
“Solutions architect is just fancy words for saying I use Amazon Web Services (AWS) to create solutions for our clients,” Millar said. “I like to think of AWS as a bunch of computer resources I pay Amazon to use remotely.”
This position is an outgrowth of Millar’s previous work as an intern.
“I was tasked, during my time as an intern, to create an application clients could use to manage and download database backups (as well as other files that may be pertinent to the project),” Millar said. “I continued to develop the app for an entire year into completion, earning college credits for my internship during the Fall 2019 and Spring 2020 semesters.”
Clearly, Millar had demonstrated a good amount of potential and creativity in her own right. However, Millar ending up in this position is also a testament to the good work done by New College’s Center for Career Engagement and Opportunity (CEO). In particular, Millar looked to the CEO career coaches for help with the social networking platform, LinkedIn (and experienced great results).
“Once you find the right keywords recruiters use when sorting through LinkedIn searches, your profile’s visibility will increase,” Millar said. “It’s truly a great resource.”
Another resource Millar has made heavy usage of during her time at New College has been the guidance of her faculty adviser, Assistant Professor of Computer Science Matthew Lepinski, Ph.D. When she first arrived at New College, Millar described her interest in computer science as not much more than a “hunch.” But, under Lepinski’s tutelage, this hunch grew into a full career and passion.
“It was intimidating at first [at New College]. It felt like every person in my classes had been programming for years and built their own PC,” Millar said. “While I knew I liked math and computers, I wasn’t coding during my early teen years. After a while, I caught up with my peers, and I knew I was doing just as well as them. Professor Lepinski was (and is) a great aid in helping remind me of my progress throughout the entirety of it all.”
Computer Science is currently the fastest-growing area of concentration (major) at New College. And Millar’s story is a shining example of what New College students can do if they put their unique creativity into action.
Jack Sobel is an intern in the Office of Communications & Marketing.