My grandfather has always told me to “know thy self.” I was always a little confused about what he meant by that. He would tell stories from when he worked in the Labor Department in Washington D.C. They would sit people down and put them through an exercise. It would help the employee determine what they liked to do. He would use the example of, “Do you want to be a librarian? Or do you want to be a car salesman?” He has told me that story almost every year of my life. It really became relevant when I started to try to determine what I wanted to do, what I loved to do.
“A great man is hard on himself; a small man is hard on others.”
-Confucius
I received my degree in Computer Science from the University of Colorado Boulder. I won’t lie, it was tough. I am not exactly sure how I finished the degree in 4 years. Especially after all my advisors and professors said it was normal for such a degree to take 5 years to complete. Throughout my college career, I had doubts on whether I could finish. I didn’t know if I wanted to be a Software Engineer, but that is where the money is. I enjoyed Python, and Java, my favorite CS class was my Senior Object-Oriented Design class. But deep down, I knew I didn’t want to code in front of a computer for hours each day.
Flash forward to graduation and after, I got a job working as a construction contractor through a friend’s uncle. I was in the best shape of my life, and I really enjoyed working out in the woods, cutting trees, and digging holes with heavy machinery. I then was fortunate enough to get a job interview at Strive Technology Consulting. I was later told by my boss, the reason he hired me was because of one thing I said during the interview. “I love working with people.” That statement, from my former boss, helped me solidify what I liked to do. During the 3+ years working at Strive, I realized I love working with people. I love explaining technology to people who could barely open a word document. I also enjoy helping plan and implement projects for my more technical savvy clients. At the core of it I wanted to work with and help people understand technology.
That is why I created The Tech Tutor, to help educate the general public about the ever-changing environment of technology. I will never forget when my boss at Strive told me that, “old women love me”. I still get a laugh out of that.
As I continued my work through The Tech Tutor and my new job at Wanco Inc., I started to fall back in love with technology. I have since gained four new certifications, working on my fifth, and planning my sixth and seventh. I have realized I have a very special skill set. I love the complexity of technology, and I love working with people. I have seen and have been told, by people I have helped, not a lot of tech workers poses the capability of being patient in the explanation of everything from the simplest of problems, to a complex network problem.
I truly am very fortunate to be in the position I currently am in, and credit it to hard work and the mentorships I have had through my entire life.
