Welcome to
My Lifelong Journey
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My Locale
Second Stop
The Early Spark
Final Frontier
First Stop
Future Developments
My Locale
Indiana
Texas
South Carolina
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The Early Spark
I come from a family of extremely hard workers, but one that did not emphasize the importance of education. Coming out of high school, I had no desire to go to college, so I didn't. Instead, I got a job as an apprentice in the electrical field and had a great mentor and teacher. In a fairly short amount of time, I began leading jobs and teaching others. I really enjoyed the challenge and it was a great skill and trade to learn, but ultimately, working outside in the elements was not for me.
I may have left that field, but I took some valuable skills and knowledge with me to my next destination and beyond.
First Stop
Eventually I did go to college and actually did okay. I went to Purdue University - Indianapolis then transferred and finished at Coastal Carolina in Conway, SC with a BS in Mathematics. However, finding a career job in an area which was mostly tourism proved to be a challenge that ultimately took us back to the midwest and our hometown in Indiana. My first stop after college was a job as a Pension Actuary. Most people don't know what that is and many have never even heard of it. Basically, it is a lot of math and spreadsheets, crunching numbers, all day long and doing annual reports. Imagine getting paid to do math. I could hardly believe it. The interesting thing is that there was little to no training. On the first day they showed you last year's report and told you to use it to do this year's report. It was challenging and rewarding at the same time.
Second Stop
Time has a way of changing things and it did for me in 2004. Things were going well in my career but I knew it was time for a big change. My family and I moved to Fort Worth Texas where I went to seminary to get a Master of Divinity degree. While I was there I took a job at a cell phone company as a researcher for an extremely modest wage. It was only meant to get me through school but shortly after arriving I was thrust into an analyst/management position where things have gone extremely well. I have been with that company for the past 16 years but like before, I knew at some point, there would need to be a change. Changing careers after 16 years is a scary proposition in many ways but this is where my life in programming begins. I am slightly late to the party you might say, but better late than never, right?
Final Frontier
I am now about to face down the final frontier, and have already made first steps by going to school and earning yet another degree, this time in computer programming. In the beginning, I just wanted to take a few classes to see how it would go and if I could even handle one semester. Two years later I can report that I made it to the next first step and have been given a rare privilege to learn on the job with Develop Carolina and Booz Allen Hamilton. Hopefully 6 months from now, I will have great news to share. Check out the blog entries to hear all about it, the struggles and challenges, but also the achievements and victories.
