Brian Day is very excited for his first year as the new computer technician at Westford Academy.

Q: As a computer technician, what does your job entail?

A: Supporting students with Chromebooks, with repairs, manning the loaner desk when students forget their Chromebooks, or if they have any problems with their device, going around to fix issues with computer hardware, Wi-Fi issues, or computer issues.

Q: What are some of the most common issues that you get?

A: In terms of Chromebooks, it’s probably broken devices, or people forgetting to charge their devices, and needing a loaner for the day. It differs between student and teacher issues and is kind of all over the place.

Q: Have there been many instances where you have had no idea of what the problem is? What did you do?

A: Yeah, I mean there’s always those points where it’s like, I haven’t run into this before, I’ve never seen this before. I ask my co-workers and sometimes they go, ‘Oh yeah I’ve ran into this before. Let me show you how to fix it.’

Q: Is this your first school working as a computer technician?

A: No, I came from Lowell Catholic.

Q: Where did you go to school?

A: UMass Lowell and the University of Maine.

Q: Did you always want to be a computer technician or was there another job that you wanted to be?

A: Originally, I was in 3D animation. And then the economy crashed. I went back to school for computer science, and one of these high-tech jobs popped up but, my main thing was programming.

Q: What inspired you to become a computer technician?

A: I’ve always been good at it. It’s kind of like a natural thing, I was always the most knowledgeable with technology so I kind of fell into that. And then friends and family would say, ‘Hey can you help me with this?’ It’s cool, natural progression.

Q: What does your job mean to you? Has it always been interesting for you?

A: I mean like any job, there’s boring, repetitive parts of it, but there’s also the rewarding parts. I mean it’s problem-solving. The problems aren’t always the same but some happen all the time. It’s knowing how to look and figure things out that you’ve never seen before, as well as knowing when to ask other people who have more experience than you if they’ve run into the problem before, because there is no point in creating the wheel again. The fact that you can help people who don’t have the same level of knowledge of computers [that you do]. Or maybe computers scare them, and they only know the tip of the iceberg. So it’s good to try to educate the people that want to be educated but also know that some people just don’t to know how to fix it or need it fixed for them.

Q: If COVID wasn’t a thing right now, do you think your job would be any different or would it be the same?

A: It’s all the same. […]  I was at the other school before COVID and nothing really changed.

Q: Let’s go outside of school and your job. What are some of your hobbies?

A: I have two little kids, so I do whatever they want to do. They like to go for bike rides or hike through the woods.

Q: What are some of your favorite movies or TV shows? 

A: Currently it’s probably like anything Marvel. Those types of things. And science fiction. Fantasy type things because it’s something that shows the technology is there and makes it actually interesting and makes it look nice.