GIS Internship Series - Blog 1

 It is the start of a new semester here at the University of West Florida, but sadly it will also be my last. I am set to walk across the stage on May 7th, 2022 with my degree in Environmental Management and a minor in GIS. But to be able to do that, I need to gain experience in the GIS field by completing an internship. As of today's date, January 20th, 2022, I have had one interview with Escambia Counties, Marine Resource Division. There I will be partaking in plenty of GIS projects and gaining the necessary experience to be successful in the field of GIS. I am just waiting on my background check to be completed so that I can be hired and begin my orientation. In the meantime, to earn experience before I start my internship I am completing lecture assignments for my GIS internship course, as well as ESRI training. This is very necessary for me to do because I need to work 130 hours to earn credit for this internship, and I can't do it with Escambia County just yet. So far I've completed a training course called "Getting Started with ArcGIS Pro" to re-familiarize myself with concepts I need a refresher on. Something I am super excited about this internship is being able to make connections with professionals in my field, and one assignment we just did in our lecture course helps us do just that at a larger scale. We were assigned to look for GIS user groups to research and join. I managed to discover the Southeastern Division of the American Association of Geographers where their main focus is to advance investigations in geography and to encourage the application of geographic findings in education, government, and business. The reason I am choosing to join this user group is to build connections with members located all across the Southeast United States to be able to easily find a job once I graduate. So far from the work I have done in this class, I am super excited to learn more with my internship and start in my field once I graduate.