SAS Day

Eleven Foxcroft girls traveled in two minivans to Cary, NC, to attend a seminar for high school students hosted by the Statistical Analytical System company (SAS) at their impressively expansive campus. SAS is a company that specializes in helping its customers analyze and understand large amounts of data. I had signed up for the SAS trip with no knowledge about computer programming — I only knew that I would be missing classes for two days and that there would be boys there.

Our day at SAS began with a presentation from four current SAS employees, each of whom discussed a unique part of this remarkable company. We sat in an auditorium set up like the U.N. Massive amounts of information and data were displayed, which SAS could compute and make sense of in seconds. The employees also explained the history of computer programming and how far technology has come — what used to take days to be able to analyze can now be analyzed in seconds. The computer programming that the employees are working on is cutting-edge and is forming our future in technology. We were also privy to a panel which discussed the benefits of pursuing a career at SAS, including Analytical Consultant, Java Web Developer, or Applications Developer, by advertising the amount of income and demand or people skilled in computer programming. Personally my favorite part of the day was the trivia about SAS we would volunteer to answer questions on stage. We learned that SAS was celebrating its 36^th anniversary, and that SAS was founded by a professor from North Carolina State.

SAS has an amazing campus that is completely self-sufficient with fields of solar panels, organically grown foods, and extensive amenities located on ground. Lunch was one of the many highlights of the day, featuring organic foods and a health-conscious menu. The peanut butter cookies were apparently a big hit but, unfortunately, I was at the end of the line missing out because the boys ahead of me had taken more than their share. After attending SAS, I now am very interested in computer programming and hopefully will further my knowledge about SAS.

– Maddie T. ’14