Ben Alley

    Ben Alley

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    2017

    Current job title and employer and briefly describe what it is you do: Currently, I am a software developer at Vermont Information Processing (VIP) in Colchester, VT. I work on designing, implementing, and maintaining a variety of solutions that VIP has to offer. My work focuses on (but is not limited to) web applications.

    Academic experience at Saint Michael's College help prepare you for your career: Saint Mike’s helped me prepare for my career because of the excellent professors, liberal studies curriculum, and classroom experience. The professors at Saint Mike’s went above and beyond to make sure students understood the class material, which has translated into joining the workforce with a working knowledge of what my employer wants me to work on. The liberal studies curriculum has been beneficial because not everything I do is programming. I’ve written an essay, given a presentation, and constantly maintain spreadsheets for organizational purposes. My experience in the classroom as a student has also benefited me. Professors at Saint Mike’s made a point to get to know me and act as more of a mentor, which engaged me in the classroom more and increased my interest in the subject.

    Favorite memory or class from your time studying at St. Mike’s: One of my favorite courses at Saint Mike’s was E-Commerce, which was one of my electives for my major. In that course, I learned about programming web applications (what I’m doing for work now). I enjoyed the course because, although there was plenty of new material, there was a creative design element to it. All the students were able to create their own websites on topics that interested them and continue to learn new ways to improve their websites throughout the semester.

    Other information you would like to share or advice for incoming or current students: I would highly suggest computer science as a major because working as a software developer has been a blast for me. Every day is more problem solving and there’s never just one solution, so you have to engineer the best solution for whatever task you are dealing with. No two days are the same and that’s what keeps work fun.