Back when I was still in grade school, my ambition was to become a civil engineer. Having been exposed to its world (my daddy *lolo* was a CE), my feeling was that I want to follow his footsteps. What with the travels and seeing your handiwork (like the Magallanes overpass - that was one of my daddy's project), it was definitely something I could get into. However, my kuya E told me that if I pursue this dream, I would definitely become more tanned as I was then. Call me vain but that stucked in my mind.
Come 6th grade, I have this barkada who has an ate who is learning computers. She told me that her ate can create computer games. Wow! For a 6th grader and for someone with limited experience in gaming (I only played pacman and space invaders in Atari, and of course not to forget the addictive game and watch), I was definitely amazed and attracted to its lures. So, from 6th grade on, it was Computer Science for me.
Mind you, being the fickleminded that I am. I almost convinced my mommy *lola* that I wanted to take up Medicine instead. Their family was the one who sent me to college. But, then she told me, she doesn't want to wait for 10+ years for me to graduate. So then, the decision was made, Computer Science it is.
During my 4th year in high school. I studied Wordstar in one of the local computer shops. Thinking that's what I will be learning in college. Haha! What a joke! Now, that I think about it, I was so naive. And being that and coming from a high school who doesn't have any computer classes in its curriculum, I struggled during my first trimester in college. First tri and all, I failed my first computer programming class. Of course, my heart bled. But, I just couldn't get the hang of it.
So, I had to repeat the darn class. I later learned that programming was not my forte. But that didn't make me want to change course or anything. I am the type who never gives up. And back then, I thought that there must be some other things that I can do with computers. And later on when we took up our specializations, I found it. I want to specialize in network infrastructure. It gives me the kicks whenever we are able to make computers communicate.
It took some time in my career path before I was able to reach my goal. I still started as a programmer. I must confess though that I don't have the patience for it. But with the help of so many good mentors. Here I am now doing system and network administration. I must say that it's a hard earned dream. What makes me so interested with it was the kick you get after troubleshooting. Or, when you manage to route all the mails to other mail servers? Don't yawn on me but that's what makes me go home with a smile on my face.
Of course, there are still some perils in my work. What with users bitching for attention, or zero downtime KPIs! It's not all heaven. But, I look at it as a challenge. A challenge worth waking up early for.
Come 6th grade, I have this barkada who has an ate who is learning computers. She told me that her ate can create computer games. Wow! For a 6th grader and for someone with limited experience in gaming (I only played pacman and space invaders in Atari, and of course not to forget the addictive game and watch), I was definitely amazed and attracted to its lures. So, from 6th grade on, it was Computer Science for me.
Mind you, being the fickleminded that I am. I almost convinced my mommy *lola* that I wanted to take up Medicine instead. Their family was the one who sent me to college. But, then she told me, she doesn't want to wait for 10+ years for me to graduate. So then, the decision was made, Computer Science it is.
During my 4th year in high school. I studied Wordstar in one of the local computer shops. Thinking that's what I will be learning in college. Haha! What a joke! Now, that I think about it, I was so naive. And being that and coming from a high school who doesn't have any computer classes in its curriculum, I struggled during my first trimester in college. First tri and all, I failed my first computer programming class. Of course, my heart bled. But, I just couldn't get the hang of it.
So, I had to repeat the darn class. I later learned that programming was not my forte. But that didn't make me want to change course or anything. I am the type who never gives up. And back then, I thought that there must be some other things that I can do with computers. And later on when we took up our specializations, I found it. I want to specialize in network infrastructure. It gives me the kicks whenever we are able to make computers communicate.
It took some time in my career path before I was able to reach my goal. I still started as a programmer. I must confess though that I don't have the patience for it. But with the help of so many good mentors. Here I am now doing system and network administration. I must say that it's a hard earned dream. What makes me so interested with it was the kick you get after troubleshooting. Or, when you manage to route all the mails to other mail servers? Don't yawn on me but that's what makes me go home with a smile on my face.
Of course, there are still some perils in my work. What with users bitching for attention, or zero downtime KPIs! It's not all heaven. But, I look at it as a challenge. A challenge worth waking up early for.
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