This weekend’s Christmas Walk was a lot of fun, even though it was hindered a little bit by inclement weather. We’ve barely had any snow or anything all season, but the one evening that we decide to spend a while outside, it’s pretty miserable. It snowed in the morning, but as the day went on it warmed up, so we ended up with freezing rain turning the snow into ice, not to mention a constant chilly drizzle.

Aside from that, though, it was quite lovely. Most of the businesses in the downtown area were open and gave out snacks and hot drinks to people passing through. There were trolleys running and a few horse-drawn carriages as well. After we walked through town, my family and I had dinner at a Mexican restaurant in town called Casa Margarita, which is a perennial favorite. On the way in, I snapped this picture of the city hall and a passing trolley (in the intersection):

Very festive!  La Grange isn’t anywhere near as big or busy as Chicago, but it has its own quaint charm.

Beyond that, it’s just more work for now.  My internship at International Truck and Engine goes year-round, so I keep working there even though the term is over.  We change jobs within the IT department every six months, and we’re due to switch at the beginning of January.  I’m really anxious to find out what my next position is going to be, but for now I’m working in Enterprise Architecture, which is a really fascinating branch of IT.

When people think “IT” and “Computer Science” they usually think about programming and tech support, but there’s a lot more to it, especially in a business environment.  Enterprise Architecture is more about studying and directing what technologies are worth pursuing for the whole business, so it’s much more cerebral than technical.  It still requires a very strong technical background, but generally it also requires many years of experience, so I’m not really qualified to be considered an architect.  That’s probably better for everyone, because I certainly don’t want to be the one making millions of dollars’ worth of investment recommendations at this early point in my professional career!  Instead, I do some technical work to support the rest of the team, such as doing research, drawing process models, and building simple applications to help them do their jobs.  It’s just as rewarding, since I can apply and develop the skills I already have while learning a lot about what they do.

This particular internship rotation has been excellent experience.  In our classes we learn the foundations of computer science, and Enterprise Architecture is a really unique way to apply what we’ve learned.  I wouldn’t mind working as an architect someday, but I have a lot more left to experience before I commit to anything.  Anyway, hopefully by next week they will announce the new rotations and I’ll know what I’m in for next.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, December 4th, 2007 at 8:07 am and is filed under Events, Work. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS feed. You can skip to the end and leave a response.