Intern Spotlight: Mike Walker
Internships are a critical aspect of a William & Mary education. No matter what a student is majoring in, so much can be learned by gaining real-world work experience. W&M Information Technology has a long-standing tradition of welcoming student workers and incorporating them into our overall strategy of providing a reliable, flexible, and secure technological environment that enables swift and skilled solutions for rapidly changing needs.
Mike Walker ‘16
Major
Public Policy
Intern Position
IT Communications Intern
What were some of your duties as an intern?
During my time as the IT communications intern and social media manager from 2014 to 2016, I wrote news articles (including the “Letter from the CIO” in the annual report), built new features for the website, and created content to market the IT department to the W&M community. One of the coolest things I got to do during my time with W&M IT was sit in on meetings with important figures at the university and give feedback from a student perspective about the prospect of launching Box at W&M. I also did this for meetings surrounding the W&M Mobile App when that was being workshopped. I was able to provide a student perspective with the university consultants. This was a great opportunity for me to combine my interest in technology with my humanities experience and communicate to the public.
What were some of the takeaways from your time working in IT?
This position helped me strengthen my ability to translate complex details about systematic and technological processes into something anyone can understand and be interested in. Being behind-the-scenes on projects such as the W&M Mobile App and using my position to be a voice for other students was extremely rewarding. It was nice to have that responsibility and influence on products that students for future generations would get to use.
What have you been doing since graduating?
After graduating from William & Mary, I worked for Comcast as a compliance analyst and then transitioned to a law firm where I did legal assistant work. Two years after graduation, I pursued a legal education at Howard Law School, and now I'm a law clerk for a federal appeals court judge.
How did your internship experience prepare you for your career?
My internship with W&M IT taught me to take something that is complex and detailed and make it accessible to all. This is the biggest resource that translates to my life now because that is what I do in my job. As a law clerk, I take laws and translate them. I have worked on patent cases involving hyper-technical language that needs to be translated for the public. Luckily, my internship helped me develop that crucial skill for the first time. Now I am much further along in my career, and it continues to be a big aspect of what I do every day.
