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Gurparsad Khalsa

Job Shadow

5 October 2023

Job Shadow Reflection

Hello, my name is Gurparsad Khalsa. On October 5th, I completed my job shadow. I was

recommended to job shadow Peter Sonksen, who is part of the Information Technology (IT)

department of the Lindsay Unified School District because I am interested in technology. I chose

this particular career because I am interested in how things work, especially if it involves

computers.

As soon as I reached the building, Mr. Sonksen kindly greeted me and we began the job

shadow. At first, he asked me questions about what fields of technology and engineering I was

interested in so he could see how it fits into his career. We had interactive conversations,

hands-on work, and demonstrations to help me better understand what goes on, what is expected

in that general field, as well as any additional things that I should be prepared for in the

technology/engineering field.

In addition to this, one thing in particular that I learned from this job shadow was about

ethernet cables and how to make them. I even got to set one up myself! First, you have to strip

off the rubber from the top of the cable, and some come with a ribbon that you can just pull down

and it’ll come off! Then, you must untwist the tiny cables; which is where I got the

understanding that the tiny wires are twisted in a particular pattern of colors and tightness. I then

used my newfound knowledge of the color patterns of the wires to straighten them out in an

orderly fashion: white orange, orange, white green, blue, white blue, green, white brown, and

brown. The wires must be set in this pattern to gateway a smooth signal. Next, you flatten the
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tiny wires with your hands (being mindful of the color order) and then use a tool to flatten the

wires completely, and then use a small machine to test the signal. I also saw all these machines

which each had their own special properties and belonged to certain schools in Lindsay, as well

as a small wire, which would shut off everything if tampered with.

All in all, I learned how to put together an ethernet cable, how some machines work, and

how the cloud, the firewall, and IP addresses play a great role in the basics of all smart devices.

Another memorable moment I picked up from that job shadow is the key components of what

makes up a computer, and he even directed me to a site where they sell computer parts so I can

build my own, (PC) personal computer!