Well.. I’ve put it off long enough, but it’s time to go back to college! In 2019, at the age of 25, I made the choice to enroll in my local community college to pursue an Associate of Applied Science in Network Management. At the time, I was employed in a help desk role with my current employer and harbored a keen interest in diving deeper into networking. In my position, I noticed that only our senior engineers were handling network operations. It wasn’t due to a lack of capability among other team members; rather, networking was perceived as a daunting, complex area within IT, requiring extensive knowledge and responsibility which in turn made others not want to even attempt to learn networking at all.
I took the situation as a challenge: if nobody was willing to delve into networking, why shouldn’t I? I saw an opportunity to become a better asset to our team, supporting our current engineers and potentially paving the path for my own transition into an engineering role once I had acquired enough expertise to confidently manage and construct small business networks. Given the fast-paced environment of working at an MSP, formal networking training was simply not possible. I recognized that pursuing education at a school would provide me with a structured schedule, enabling me to hold myself accountable for my learning journey. With me personally, I will put off things for an eternity unless.. I just commit! Whether it’s signing up, scheduling an exam, etc. that’s all I need to get my butt in gear.
Long story short, I finished my degree, acquired my Cisco CCNA certification (after one fail that was quite disheartening.. until I learned most everyone fails the exam their first attempt!), and began applying my newfound networking knowledge into my job role(s) as I transitioned into more engineering instead of help desk / onsite call responsibilities. I was beginning to feel more fulfilled with my job(s), and all it took was committing to a program and applying myself daily to learn new things.
Fast forward to today, I have transitioned away from the MSP life and I work IT internally as a Cloud Services Engineer. After having taken a break from school after my associates (having two kids/starting a family can sure throw a curve ball your way) I’m now going back to school, enrolling into Western Governors University Cloud Computing bachelors degree program. There are many things that I’m excited about with this program. Just to name a few, you can transfer credits from Sophia Learning and/or Study.com, and industry standard IT certifications also count as transferable credit. Prior to beginning the enrollment process, I’ve been able to test out of 3 courses via Sophia and another 3 via recognized IT certifications, that’s a semester already done prior to starting!
There are numerous things about the program that excite me. Among them, the flexibility to transfer credits from Sophia Learning and/or Study.com stands out. Additionally, the recognition of industry-standard IT certifications as transferable credits adds further value. Prior to commencing the enrollment process, I’ve already been able to test out of three courses via Sophia Learning and another three through recognized IT certifications, effectively completing a semester’s worth of coursework before even starting!
With all of the above being said, I hope that this tidbit of my personal story will inspire others to learn new skills, go back to school (you’re never too old), and apply yourself. We are all capable of great things and sometimes all it takes is a baby step to propel ourselves into a new journey. I look forward to posting more about my experiences to this site, as well as posting more technical deep dives related to the many technologies I have, will, or am actively working with in hopes that others will learn along with me and continue to be inspired by technology.
Thank you for reading!