Ms Oung is training Robert to install operating systems.

A gap year between high school and college is a chance to earn much needed funds towards tertiary education and, for many Brac students, another year at home before heading out abroad on their own.
For one graduate from the Class of 2008, a year in the workforce is also providing him with an opportunity to further his knowledge of computer technology as an intern at a world-class IT and disaster recovery service provider located right here on Cayman Brac.

According to 16-year-old Robert Tatum, a year working at Brac Informatics Centre (BIC), where he expects to learn a great deal, will help him towards his goal of becoming an engineer.

In addition, he is taking advantage of the newly opened University College of the Cayman Islands Brac campus to take College Algebra to better prepare him for university in the US next year.

Being a good math student, the career choice was suggested to him by Cayman Brac High School (CBHS) mathematics teacher Kevin Roberts when he was in Year 11.

Later, when he approached BIC President Nancy Ewing, who is an engineer herself, to discuss what the job entailed and what he needed to do to pursue it as a career, she encouraged him to intern for the next year at BIC to get some hands-on experience.

BIC, which launched in 2002, provides IT and business continuity services (such as business continuity planning, online data backup and recovery services and disaster recovery suites) as well as co-location and managed hosting.

Robert will be working side by side with highly experienced technicians supporting an international client base who expect a sophisticated IT service.

To start off, Robert is learning the basics and is currently being trained by Systems Administrator Theingi Tin Oung how to install operating systems and software for clients.

After that he will move on to troubleshooting and quality assurance (QA) during software development.

Later, he will learn how to create websites for clients as well as some of the operational processes and procedures for monitoring networks.

To add to the four external examinations he took last year – English General, Mathematics, Science and IT Technical, all of which he passed with Grade 1 – Robert is now waiting on the results for Biology, Additional Math, English Literature, Physics, Geography and Accounts.

He has already been accepted to the only college he has applied to so far, the Florida Institute of Technology, but intends to apply to more colleges this year.

“Working for BIC is challenging because it’s new – I have to learn everything – but it’s not hard when I’m shown how to do it,” he said.

“Over the past several years we have had the opportunity to employ CBHS graduates as interns,” said Ms Ewing.

“We are pleased to be able to offer them work experience that will not only broaden their computer technology skill-base, but will give them a valuable addition to their resume when they eventually follow their career path.

“We see this as an opportunity to invest in our young people and their futures, and most importantly we hope that they will choose to come back at some point and build their careers here on the Brac.”

“Robert is a bright and capable young man who has a bright future ahead of him and I have every confidence that he will take full advantage of this year at Brac Informatics,” Ms Ewing added.