Participating in the IRS IT Summer Program in 2016 and 2017 will forever be an experience I cherish because it helped jumpstart my IT career in the federal government. After receiving my bachelor’s degree from Delaware State University in 2015, I instantly knew that I wanted to go down the IT career path. While being apart of the program for two summers, there were two things that I learned and still utilize to this day. The first thing I learned about was time management. While working at the IRS, I was also in graduate school at the University of Maryland Global Campus studying for my master’s degree in IT with an Information Assurance Specialization. Participating in the program taught me how to manage my time in a way where I could efficiently balance my work, studies, and social life. The second thing this program taught me was the importance of networking. This program helped me meet a lot of great people within the IRS including people who were able to get my foot in the door and helped me get an IT Specialist position within the IRS after graduating and receiving my Master’s.