From the Field to the Web: Reilly Hawkins
Baseball and computers are not necessarily related to each other, but they are my two biggest passions. My name is Reilly Hawkins. I am a baseball player for Kent State, and I am also Computer Systems information major. I work as a web developer for IdeaBase.
I chose Computer Information Systems as my major because computers have always interested me. I was always playing on them growing up, finding out how they worked, and trying to improve the one that I had. I also like to be presented with problems. It’s satisfying figuring out a solution to a tough problem.
When it comes to baseball, I’ve been playing for as long as I can remember. I loved the thrill of getting the opportunity each game to make an outstanding play or get a big hit, and it just stuck with me. Even now, the atmosphere of the sport is awesome. Baseball is a more laid back sport. There is still a lot of hard work put into a win, but it’s not high tension like some other sports. With baseball, you just have to go with the flow.
Baseball has taught me most about facing adversity and coming together as a team. It’s a game of failure, and it takes a mentally tough person to stick with the game, even when nothing seems to go the right way. Also, baseball is unique in the sense that anything can happen on any day. With some other sports, it’s rare to see a nationally large team get beaten by a small school that no one has heard of. However, with baseball, if one guy has a great day and the other team is not having a good day, the small school is always in the hunt to win some games.
As for my work at IdeaBase, I am currently working on designing and creating a new website for the State Library of Ohio. It is a tremendous task that we have been working hard on for a few months now. It’s a really great experience getting to work in a team with other majors. Each person brings their own talents to the table. It also gives me real life experience, which will be applicable after graduation.
I enjoy working at IdeaBase because of the atmosphere. Everyone is a student, and the expectations for us are realistic. Each person has to learn new information and apply it to each new project. We work with real clients on real websites, so it’s not just working on a project and turning it in for a grade.
Everything that IdeaBase makes is out there for everyone to see. It’s a cool feeling knowing that you’ve left an impression on someone through your work.