When I began my GIS education, I had just started my second year of my master’s degree in Anthropology at North Carolina State University.  With no prior experience, I was fascinated by what GIS could achieve even in an introductory course.  After completing the introductory course, I decided to complete the Graduate Certificate in Geographic Information Systems while finishing my master’s degree in Anthropology.  Afterwards, I concluded that I should pursue a career in GIS that completing the Master of Geospatial Information Science and Technology (MGIST) would help me achieve. 

Throughout the MGIST Program, I have gained more career opportunities.  As data collection moves to online hosting, creating web applications such as Survey 123 and ArcGIS Collector are important components of GIS work.  Designing applications intuitive for the field worker is a necessary skill, which I use constantly in my work as a GIS Technician.  Creating printed maps, online maps, and web applications are other required components.  Without the knowledge gained by the courses GIS 510, 520, and 530, I would not have been hired for my current position.    

As an employee of the City of Raleigh, civic engagement is part of my job description. For the City of Raleigh’s GIS Day 2020, I created a story map describing the role recycling plays in Solid Waste Services, including the reprocessing steps, and what materials are created from the discarded material.  This allowed people to see what becomes of their recycling refuse after collection by Solid Waste Services vehicles.  The skills required for creating a good Story Map were acquired from GIS 510 and 530.

The key foundations for the MGIST program are found in the introductory course GIS 510: “Fundamentals of Geospatial Information Science and Technology”.  One such skill was conducting statistical spatial analysis: in GIS 510, statistical spatial analysis was conducted to track the movements of a disease.  Concepts introduced there were later expanded in Analysis Methods for Geospatial Data Science.  During the course, I performed spatial analysis to track patterns in archaeological data for my Capstone Project.  From GIS 540, the Python programming fundamentals greatly assisted in utilizing SQL programming language in GIS 550.  Other concepts I have incorporated across many of the courses include finding online and utilizing online data, spatial joins, and creating web services.

From the MGIST program, I have gained the skills needed in order to work as a full-time GIS Technician.  The skills learned in this program matter as GIS fundamentals are utilized over a vast majority of disciplines.  I believe the most important concepts I learned over the course of this degree were Python programming knowledge, database management, and webservices.  Python programming allows users to automate GIS processes without always manually performing GIS processes.  As more geospatial data is commonly held in enterprise databases, the knowledge for retrieving geodatabase data through SQL language and how to maintain the database and API services will be commonly needed functions.  Designing web services through creating web maps and web applications such as ArcGIS Connect, Survey 123, and Web App Builder are key skills in gathering and maintaining data for field work.  With my acquired skills from this program, I plan to transition from a GIS Technician to a GIS analyst, preferably working with historical data.