Senior Austin Kim is quite busy as a technology intern for Becton Regional High School and a recent graduate of the Computer Science Pathways Certificate Program.

Under the guidance and supervision of Becton’s District Technology Coordinator, Mr. Gbaguidi, Austin has learned the inside out of the school’s computers. As a paid intern over the summer, the senior worked with Mr. Gbaguidi on updating the software on each and every computer at Becton as well as organizing and labeling the Chromebooks that are being used for the high school’s One-to-One Chromebook Initiative. Austin was also taught the schematics of Becton’s computers by Mr. Gbaguidi guiding him on how to take apart and reassemble one.

“I made him take notes for everything. Technology is complicated, and you must take notes if you want to keep track of all your progress,” stated Mr. Gbaguidi. He then added, “Note taking will always be a skill that he [Austin] will use, even outside of school and in the real world.”

Now that the school year has begun, Austin still assists Mr. Gbaguidi as an unpaid intern with maintaining Becton’s computers and making sure they are all up to code for maximum efficiency. Every B, C and D day, one can catch the Becton senior working alongside his mentor during eighth period. During this time, they are usually fixing any technical issues on the computers or making sure everything is running correctly.

Austin stated, “In college, I want to major in computer science and become a programmer.”

“He is very organized and pays attention very well, which is essential in this job field. I hope he goes far with his skills and makes something out of it,” said Mr. Gbaguidi.

Moreover, Austin recently graduated from the Computer Science Pathways Certificate Program by successfully completing an Advanced Placement Computer Science A class and an Advanced Placement Computer Science Principles class through The Virtual High School. He earned passing scores on both of the AP exams.

“Taking two online AP courses was definitely a challenge because of the workload, but I ultimately believe it was worth it in the end,” said Austin.

By completing the courses, he graduated the program and was given the opportunity to have a one-to-one interview with an accomplished mentor in the career field of computer science.

“For an hour long, I spoke to Mike Lazos, a software engineer at Microsoft who graduated Brown University in 2015 with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering. I also received a certificate for graduating the program. I definitely feel that this experience was life-changing because it affirmed my passion in the computer science field and increased my motivation for success in this career path,” stated Austin.