Meet John Thomas, a U of I sophomore majoring in Economics. He first learned about the opportunity through his academic advisor and department newsletters, and saw the program as an invaluable tool to develop himself professionally. He is currently completing his first semester as a VR Programmer with the ATLAS Internship Program. The structured nature of ATLAS makes it easy to get a proper internship, which in the competitive nature of internship-hunting is beyond valuable. As part of the ATLAS VR Programming Team, John (as his title will give away) programs in virtual reality. He is working on bug fixes for POINT VR, tackling a specific issue that prevents credits from displaying in the correct area while looking through the headset. In addition, he’s developing a functional billiards game, which will allow users to interact with a virtual cue stick to strike the cue ball. This game is planned to be integrated into the broader "Quad Games" project, creating a more immersive VR experience. Through his position, John sharpens his technical skills in Unity and C#, gaining experience in game development and VR programming. He also works with Excel and R, expanding his analytical abilities. Beyond coding, he refines his communication, presentation, and professionalism—skills essential for collaborating with a team. What he learned most from his internship is the value of clear and rapid communication. Keeping an open dialogue with teammates ensures projects stay on track and issues are resolved efficiently. Down the line after graduation, John plans to become an actuary or be within the field of actuarial science. When he’s not working with data or VR, he’s a Rubix "speedcuber" and his current record for solving a 3x3 cube is an impressive 10 seconds.