Name: Catarina Norman
Catarina Norman is a student manager over at Towson’s Student Computing Services. For the past two years, she has caralled nerds all in the same place and makes them fix computers and answer phone calls.
Catarina has had an interest in computers ever since she was a child. Her father also had a fondness for computers, which fueled her desire to work with them. Now she likes them more than he does!
For those interested working in this area, applications are available at http://www.towson.edu/scs, and practically everyone who applies is accepted. This time around many women were working for Towson’s Student Computing Services.
Some tips Norman shared included: knowing how to work with computers, being comfortable learning new things, finding solutions to difficult problems, knowing how to use Google, and having strong customer service and interpersonal communication skills — all very helpful skills.
Norman has made many helpful personal and professional connections along the way. Personally she works with her roommate Reggie, and she met her current boyfriend at her job who now works for the T.V. series, House of Cards. She was able to get an internship with the director of her department, which has helped her professionally. She says that the internship has helped her learn skills that she would not have sought to develop otherwise.
In five years she hopes to be working at a place that she likes. She would love to work in D.C. and make a steady wage there. She wants people to remember to never give up on their dreams and that there are many bumps in the road. If you get a job and surround yourself with great people, things can get easier.