January 30th, 2017, the day that I started as an intern at Reclaim Hosting. Which, at the time of writing this, it was 1 year ago to the day (plus 1). How crazy is that? A year ago I was a second-semester senior, itching to get out in the real world and be done with school. Don’t get me wrong, I loved my time at UMW but I was done with school. I was so ready to finish my degree and start working. I don’t remember too much about the day, just that I was super nervous because I had no clue where to start in the world of web hosting. But, I seem to remember the day really consisted of paperwork.
Thinking back to where I am today, I’ve learned a ton. Not just in the web hosting community, but about myself as well. So this post is just a bit of reflection in the year that I’ve worked with Reclaim, first as an intern, then part-time, and finally full-time this fall. I wrote about my time as an intern on this blog and what I’ve been up to while full time (over here).
Keep notes: Yes, note-taking does not stop after high school/college. It may not be as intense as a 50-minute lecture where the professor talks the entire class, but it’s still super useful. There are so many ways to take notes. Lauren uses her blog as a place for notes on specific processes, where I personally have things write them down to stay in my brain, so I keep a little notebook in my bag and jot notes as I go. But, I’m slowly but surely heading towards the blog.
Ask questions: I can’t say it enough, ask questions. Then ask some more. And don’t worry if you think you’re being annoying with all the questions, but that’s really the way to learn. This was one of the hardest hurdles for me to jump, I hate asking questions and avoid it if I can. Clearly, things have changed.
Clarity: Explaining things clearly is key. I’m still trying to get the hang of this, but I’ve found writing more detailed responses helps a ton when you are trying to troubleshoot.
I still have a ton to learn, which is a great thing. I would be worried I did. I definitely want to keep learning, and I can absolutely do that through this job.
Ok now for the fun stuff! What has the year held for Meredith at Reclaim? Well let me tell ya, it was a fun year.
I got to travel, first to Oklahoma in June, then to NYC in November. Both of these trips were incredible. The Oklahoma trip was to Reclaim’s first ever Domains conference in Oklahoma City. 
This was a tremendous experience, one because I got to attend a conference that my company was running, but I got to see the schools and universities we work with through Domain of One’s Own. When working behind a computer, you tend to lose a sense of humanity, but getting to meet people face to face brings that back.
The NYC trip was a perfect opportunity for the Reclaim team to get some team bonding in. I started working full time a couple of months before and it was the perfect time to regroup before the end of the year.
If you’d like to read more about these trips, I wrote blog posts about each (linked above).
I got to see our office space, CoWork, expand to the what it is today. When I came in it looked like this:
And this is what it looks like now:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BbCYd6EHzvf/?taken-by=coworkfxbg
Talk about a space transformation! While I wasn’t completely around for the entire process, it was still super cool to see the midpoint of the renovations to the completed space.
That second CoWork photo brings me to my last big moment of the year. In late October, we ran a workshop covering the ins and outs of Domain of One’s Own. This workshop is catered towards the Domain of One’s Own admins and how they can support the program on their campus. I got to talk through domain migrations and transfers during the second day. Speaking to a group like this was something I’d never done before. It was a great opportunity to step out of my comfort zone. It turned out to be a great presentation and I will definitely jump into more topics like this at our future workshops.
And speaking of comfort zones, 2018 is shaping up to be a big one. In April, Reclaim is heading across the pond to Bristol, England for a two-day conference. During that conference, I’ll be speaking. Yes, I’m speaking at a conference. That’s something I never thought I’d hear see myself say type. But in all honesty, I’m super excited for this opportunity and nervous at the same time (but it all goes away when I think about the fact I’m going back to England). We’re continuing our workshops as well, the next one is coming up in March.
But who knows where the rest of 2018 will bring! I’m honestly so glad I found this internship with Reclaim that led to a full time position. The opportunities Jim and Tim have given me are incredible, and I’m so grateful. Here’s to a year full of lessons and growth!
Featured Image by Roman Bozhko on Unsplash