Anthony Poon

College: Hunter College

Education Level: Sophomore

Career Interest: Computer Science/Software Engineering

I'm Anthony Poon, and I am a sophomore at Hunter College majoring in Computer Science and Chinese Flagship. I have experience as a web developer for the Chinese Department of Hunter College and I've spent the past year building Chinese language-learning exercises utilizing HTML, CSS, JavaScript, Bootstrap, and jQuery. I'm also very familiar with C++, Python, and Java through the programming, algorithms, and data structures courses I've taken in school. Outside of school, I love to do taekwondo, fencing, play guitar, learn languages, and play video games. I am an avid learner, and I particularly enjoy building passion projects with friends. Collaborating with peers is a value that I emphasize, and I believe that the process of working with friends or classmates is more effective and fun than working alone. From recreating games like Candy Crush and Chess to building a descrambler/dictionary website, I've come to realize I belong in an extremely collaborative environment where communication is an important value. As a Chinese Flagship major, I have the unique opportunity to merge my curiosity of Chinese culture and language with my career in Computer Science by studying abroad in Taiwan and meeting professionals in the local technology industry. I plan to travel the world and meet different people, each with their own backgrounds and experiences to become both a competent, knowledgeable professional, as well as a well-rounded individual. I ultimately hope that I can work toward building products to make the world a better place, bringing not only convenience but also safety for all people.

What was your role?

CS (SWE)

What did you work on?

What was the impact of your project?

I am currently working on the Goals and Milestones portion of the Unadat website. In this feature, we will display information for goals and setting incremental milestones along the way. Ultimately, this feature allows users to create an optimistic, yet realistic, plan for the future and rewards them for continuously working towards better financial health. One proposal we discussed in our meetings was for these goals and milestones to act as a form of communication for family members who may find finance an uncomfortable discussion. Goals and milestones will interact with other systems of the Unadat website, ensuring a more seamless and interactive experience. Finally, fundraising stories can be utilized on the Unadat website and boosts to affect the progress of these goals and milestones.

What did you learn or improve on from this internship or from your teammates?

What skills have you gained?

Throughout this first week, I have learned the basics of PHP and the general structure of the website. As I have become familiar with the website, I began to see how each function is implemented and also slight changes that could be done. I feel that I have become more knowledgeable in terms of the concept of agile development and my familiarity with the project.

What was the biggest roadblock you've overcome?

The biggest roadblock I have had to overcome so far is managing my schedule. While I am so grateful for the opportunity to work asynchronously, keeping track of classes, tests, homeworks, meetings, and time to work was a bit stressful. I have overcome this roadblock as I got used to my first week, but I know that managing my time for school and Unadat will get easier throughout the course of this internship.

How has company culture guided your work?

What was your experience at Unadat?

What was one big project you worked on during the internship? Can you walk me through the process?

What advice would you give to future interns?

If I were to give onboarding advice to you and the next crop of interns, I would say that having some form of interaction and activity among interns outside of meetings would be a great bonding experience. We are all from different schools and are mostly strangers to each other, so while we may have a consensus on our common goals, I believe it is still important to get a better sense of our personalities and strengths. I believe interns should try to stay attentive and keep an open mind to give good critiques and provide valuable input.