There comes a time in everyone’s life in when they need to “Hit
Refresh”. My father never graduated
college but rose to a VP of Engineering by taking courses and surrounding
himself with people willing to teach him and allow him to learn. He ended up holding 4 patents in electronics
and the medical field. I enjoyed
watching him learn circuit design and homebrew computers. I was born in 1975 and by 1980 we had a
TRS-80 Model III. By 1984 I was
programming in BASIC and by 1987 I was helping my father fix and sell
computers. Of a family of 6 we had one
for each person and several more coming and going. I was even beginning to write programs for
people. In 1997, I started my full-time
career in IT working for a university, Windows 3.1, 95 and Netware over Token Ring
and 10Base2. By 2005, I had been fixing
and programming computers for a long time but I needed a change, a challenge
that would take me to the next stage. I
started on my Master’s degree in Computer Sciences and learning .NET/C#. Then, I was contacted by an old co-worker
that had changed jobs. He was working
for another education environment that was searching for someone to manage machines using SMS 2003.
I had never heard of SMS 2003 but I interviewed. My friend knew I enjoyed a challenge and
could master anything, having already taught me JavaScript, ASP and PERL. My first day on the job I hit refresh and
started a new path, managing machines from a central console. I started on a path of installing SMS 2003
from the ground up! I found the world of Enterprise Management to be one of
challenges, frustrations and how to properly manage machines. As the only person managing SMS, it became
necessary to learn every aspect and to perfect each area. I began to create a blog and answer questions
in the Microsoft Forums. I had mastered the software and wanted to help others. I also wanted to learn more, enter the
Microsoft Management Summit (MMS), but we didn’t have any funds for me to
attend the conference. I learned that
speakers have their hotel and conference pass paid in full so I did the next
best thing, I submitted a topic and was selected. From
there my life moved forward and I became a Microsoft MVP in 2009 and enjoy the
award still. People saw potential in my
father and helped him grow, he and other IT professionals helped me grow, so I continue
helping the next generation. All it takes is someone
to take an interest in your future.
This post is part of the collection of #HitRefresh moments.
Read more at www.hitrefreshbook.com
