Farewell to our Joomla! Student Web Developer

The first day of fall has come and gone. With it I said good bye and best wishes to intern Eric, who has started his freshman year of college. Eric came to Danico as a high school junior with an interest in computers. He learned the basics such as HTML and CSS along with content management system Joomla!

As part of my welcome address for the 2016 JoomlaDay Chicago conference that unfortunately was cancelled, Eric was going to help me to open the event and highlight his work in Joomla.  Hence my working title of Joomla! and the Next Generation. 

Eric has been away for a couple of months now and I'm working with a couple of new high schooler, but I wanted to share with you his thoughts on his time here at Danico.  As you read his thoughts, I encourage you to think of ways you can help to engage the young designers and developers in our Joomla community. 

This most likely will not be the last time you see me mentioning Eric as I look forward to his return next summer.

My Internship at Danico by Eric 

At first, I actually didn't want to take the internship position at Danico. I never had a job before, so the idea was a bit intimidating. I quickly realized though that working here was the right choice. Shirielle and Kendall* are both amazingly kind people, and it didn't take long for me to feel like a welcome part of the company. It took me a few weeks to fully understand how to code in HTML and CSS and how to use Joomla, but once I did I was able to work to my full potential. 

There really wasn't a day at work that I didn't enjoy. I got to program in Joomla, edit in Photoshop, and listen to my music while I did so. I also became a regular at the hotdog restaurant across the street, but they unfortunately closed down a few months ago. By the end of summer, Shirielle was looking for more employees, so I recommended one of my friends. Things went well at first, but a short while later I learned that getting your friend a job at your workplace might not always work out the way you intend it to. 

By the end of the year, I also started speaking directly with a few of our clients – some easy to work with, others not. I also got to help manage our summer interns this year, and I got promoted to the position of Junior Web Developer. 

One of my favorite parts of my job though was talking with Shirielle at the beginning and end of work each day. She is a very wise person and has given me so much useful life advice. I started working at Danico nearly 16 months ago. Now I'm off to college to study computer science at Loyola. 

Working at Danico has no doubt prepared me for my studies and for my future career, and has also given me the opportunity to not only call the people I work with my coworkers, but also my friends. I look forward to working there again next summer. 

*Kendall is president of Times Two Technology, a Joomla! Web Development firm that is often seen at Joomla! User Group Chicago North (JUGCN) meetings and sponsor of JoomlaDay Chicago.