So, tell me about yourself...
- IT Professional🧑💻
- 5+ Years of professional experience 👔
- Cloud and Infrastructure certified ☁️
- Technology aficionado 💻
- Growth mindset 📈
- Fitness enthusiast 💪
There really is not a single defined path that someone can take and succeed in after high school.
After high school, I really was unsure of what I wanted to do professionally, or even if higher education would be right for me. With no real direction, I started a manufacturing job and signed up for a couple of courses at my local community college while still maintaining a part time job working in fast food. School really was not my priority at this time, and one fender bender later my motivation in school evaporated.
I ended up taking a semester and the subsequent summer break off thinking about what I want to do and where I want to go professionally. Aided by my experience working in manufacturing, and doing warehouse work, I made the commitment that I wanted to go back to school and take it seriously. At the suggestion of a colleague, and me reflecting on hobbies I enjoyed growing up, I decided to re-enroll at my local community college and take classes in information technology.
Getting in a car accident and working dead end jobs are far from ideal but I am grateful for this experience in driving me towards pursuing a career. ➡️
My first real “technical job” was working for an electronic recycling center. The job itself was not really an IT job but it provided me plenty of hands-on experience touching a variety of hardware including laptops, desktops, printers, networking equipment and even old servers that companies would decommission. Most electronics were recycled but my role at that company was to evaluate and refurbish hardware that could be sold and get it in a condition where it could be resold.
After 16 months of working at the e-waste center, I was finally able to get my first professional IT gig working with the Washoe County School District.
My professional IT experience up to now really has been working as a public employee serving the communities I interact with and is something I am immensely proud of! Especially the roles I have held serving underprivileged communities. I think of myself and the challenges I faced and have strived to be a role model in those communities.
I did not last long at the help desk (for good reasons) and moved up into a unique desktop support role in the school district. As a desktop support technician, I was tasked with piloting the school district’s 1:1 laptop program at a pilot school. Being 1:1 meant that every student would be provided with a device to complete their schoolwork digitally and all instruction would be digital. The lessons learned at this pilot school would be transferred to other schools that decided they wanted to go 1:1. This led me towards another unique opportunity in being part of a brand-new school opening. On top of that, the new school was being opened as a 1:1 school. This was a challenge but, the lessons learned at the pilot school were able to be transferred to the new school. One thing I enjoyed most working in the 1:1 role was that it allowed me to interact more closely with the communities at those schools. With that experience, I can safely say I was the most popular IT person in the school district 😊.
After over three years working in desktop support, I decided to pursue a new opportunity working with the state of Nevada. The new position provided me a bit more experience in systems administration overseeing a computer lab utilized in a learning environment.
However, my time there was very brief as the school district came calling with an opportunity that really allowed me to take on more responsibilities and provided more growth.
I returned to the Washoe County School District as an IT Specialist, providing end user support to numerous sites in the school district as well as undertaking some systems administration tasks. Instead of overseeing an individual lab, I was provided an opportunity to manage servers as well as interact with cloud technologies such as Microsoft Intune.
At my time with the school district, I was always a willing Guinee pig. Any time something needed to be tested or someone needed assistance, my hand often was the only one up when asked for volunteers leading me to my next undertaking…
The school district had numerous sites where teachers were still using devices older than a good part of the student population. There really was not a district wide technology refresh at that point. Fortunately, there was funding for a district wide technology refresh, and I was asked if I would like to help spearhead the effort in conjunction with our department’s project manager.
I jumped on that opportunity which allowed me to gain valuable experience. My work on the project involved me coordinating with EVERY school (100+ sites) in helping them remove old e-waste devices and ensuring that every teacher that needed a new computer received one. This included managing and mentoring interns as well as coordinating with the IT person zoned for those schools on setting up those new devices. We did not simply drop off a new computer in a classroom, we assisted in ensuring that teachers were up and running with their new devices with minimal downtime.
The most gratifying part of that experience was seeing what an impact this modern technology had on classrooms. No longer did instructors have to wait five minutes for a computer to be in a useable state.
Continuing my duty of public service working in an education environment, I had an opportunity that allowed me to move into an infrastructure role with the University of Nevada, Reno (UNR).
In graduating from K-12 to higher education 🎓, I had the opportunity to work as a server administrator for the university supporting backend infrastructure. Working at the university has allowed me to continue supporting the Northern Nevada community and helping people achieve their career & educational goals.
As a server administrator with UNR, I have primarily worked with in a team administrating and maintaining the university’s remote desktop environment. The environment is broad and utilized by the entire university community. What is most impressive to me about this environment is that it brings equity to all students in granting them access to high performance resources regardless of what device they personally use.
I credit my career progression with my decision to pursue higher education (and work towards educational goals on my own time).
After working dead end jobs and really lacking any direction, I took time to reflect on what I wanted to do professionally. I made the decision to pursue an associate’s degree in information technology at my local college, Western Nevada College (WNC).
At WNC, with regards to schooling in IT courses, the classes I took helped provide a foundation in technology concepts as well as knowledge that would be beneficial in breaking into an IT support role. Outside of the fundamental concepts, I took courses that specialized in Windows server administration. These courses really provided me with a direction on where I wanted to delve into in the field.
Breaking into a field is hard, but after completing my associates degree, I was able to land a job working with technology working at a local electronic recycling company.
After completing my associates degree from WNC, I made the decision to go back to school and pursue a bachelor’s degree from Western Governors University (WGU). I credit WNC for helping me start my career, but really, my time at WGU is what has helped drive my career forward as well as instill a passion to keep aiming for higher grounds and striving for more.
When I started at WGU, the first few courses really helped build a solid foundation in helping me pursue roles higher up the IT ladder. At the end of my first term, I had obtained my CompTIA A+, Network+ and Security+ certifications. Having these certifications on my resume really helped land me more interviews which eventually led to better opportunities.
By the time my WGU coursework had arrived at courses that pertained to server administration, WGU had sunset the degree I was working on which ultimately pushed me towards coursework pertaining to cloud technologies. Although it was a bit of a pill to swallow, I am grateful for the courses that were introduced as it led me to touch on scripting, coding as well as working with cloud technologies such as AWS and Microsoft Azure.
2020 was a challenging year for obvious reasons but one of the bright spots was that with the extra time at home, I was able to finish my bachelor’s degree.
I am proud of the work I accomplished with WGU, and always recommend it to anyone who wants to pursue a degree in IT. On top of a bachelor's degree, I also finished my degree with several industry certifications which only bolstered my resume and helped me get from the resume pile, into an interview room, to moving up the ladder.
I am proud of my capstone (as everyone should be 😊) and have it linked on this website.
Besides my professional and technical experience, I consider myself a well-rounded individual with many hobbies and interests! This might lead to my ability to mesh with different personalities and teams!
Technology is my passion! Outside of work, like most in this profession, I enjoy video games. My all-time favorites being StarCraft (Power Overwhelming!) and Diablo 2. I also enjoy keeping up with technology and love working on personal projects and expanding my knowledge. Any time someone asks me for assistance in building a computer, I jump on such opportunities to assist in that undertaking and show people it is not as intimidating as it may seem!
When I need to get away from a screen, my favorite outlets are fitness and staying in shape. I could draft an essay on my fitness journey, but I have always enjoyed lifting weights and doing my best to take care of my health. With the world shutting down in 2020, I have discovered a new passion. Running 👟. No, not from something but with gyms closing, I needed an activity to stay in shape and get out of my house. Running provided me an outlet to maintain my fitness goals as well as an area for me to reflect on my day and the goals I am working towards. Fast forward another four years, I have completed several 5Ks, 10Ks and am working towards completing more races including half marathons and a full marathon.
Sports are another interest of mine. I enjoy attending sporting events and am a big baseball fan. With that last tidbit, Lets Go Dodgers! ⚾
As stated, I feel like I am a very well-rounded individual and feel like I am a person that can have a good relationship with a wide variety of people!
If you made it this far, thank you! My career is far from over and I am excited to see where it takes me. One thing I do know is that I am proud of the work I have accomplished in the roles I have held.