My alma mater, Berry College, is unique in that in addition to education, it has a big focus on student work. It’s all part of Berry’s view of education as being of the head, the heart, and the hands. I think I’d be right in saying that most Berry students have on-campus jobs.
When I was preparing all of the paperwork for attending Berry I told them that I could do any job but grounds crew, as I am allergic to certain grasses. So what job did I get assigned? Grounds crew. Fortunately I had applied for, and was subsequently accepted to, the BITS Program.
BITS stands for Berry Information Technology Students. It’s an apprenticeship program whereby students are given jobs with the college’s IT department, mentored and apprenticed by the various full-time IT staff, and paid to become certified in various real-world technology certifications. During my time there I became A+ certified, and also earned the Macintosh Service Certification before becoming an Apple Certified Desktop Technician. The best part of the program is that you don’t actually have to already be a techy person to get accepted to the program. I and most of the students I came in with knew very little about computers.
Early on I was taught how to build a PC, and spent a semester working for the college’s IT help desk. The BITS Program has many different specialization “tracks” students can take including networking, programming, and Web. In the Spring of 2001 I joined the Mac track, and spent the rest of my time in the program working with the platform I love so much. Berry’s education approach is itself pretty unique, and the BITS Program is something extra special.
Every year the BITS Program has an end-of-the-year banquet for the students in the program. I had been invited to attend as an alumni a couple of times before and couldn’t make it, but this year I was thrilled to make it down there and reconnect with a couple of fellow BITS alumni and a couple of the full-time IT staff I had worked with there. It was also great to see all of the current BITS students and that the program is still going strong. I got a chance to say a few words of encouragement to the current students along with the other alumni in attendance.
The program gave me invaluable real-world experience with hardware and software repair and troubleshooting, allowed me to develop customer service skills, and taught me how to work independently to accomplish tasks. I think it’s safe to say I wouldn’t have spent the last six years in the technology field without the experience I gained from the BITS Program. Most importantly I gained some deep friendships during my time there.
I wish all the continued success in the world to the BITS Program, and want to especially thank Amy Cornelius for inviting me back!
