Information Technology: Our Cup of Tea.

One evidence that I am in love with this industry is the consistency on how I never gave up on IT (pun intended), while lot of my classmates and even some of my co-workers who were in IT before has already shifted to other industries. I can’t blame them because this industry can be a pain most of the time. You should have a lot of paracetamol or ibuprofen stocked within reach.

Nevertheless, when you see and try out modern technologies and it works for you and the people or company you are serving, then it becomes bliss.

Flashback: My original plan when I graduated high school was to learn robotics. I enrolled in Mechanical Engineering because I have seen on TV what ME students in US are doing. Unfortunately, after a year in a public university I realized that Mechanical Engineering here was different from the states. Our projects were composed of creating bolts and hack saws. The only thing I loved about that course was drafting, yet I had the strong urge to shift.

Since I also love drawing, I tried my luck at applying for fine arts at another school. I brought my pencil and crayons during the practical exam. Lo and behold, the other students who were there have skills and materials way beyond mine. Looking at their work I was wondering why they still need to be schooled. They could already start their own career. It was people like me who needs to be taught. There were only a few slots for the class and I know I ranked low (if not the last) so I did not make it.

I went back to my school and saw that they are already offering IT courses, but again I face new challenges. 1) Our dean at Engineering doesn’t want to approve my release and 2) The dean of IT does not want to accept me. Funny when you really want something you just need to keep on trying until you eventually get it. Don’t ask me how but I managed to pull some strings and was able to shift. Let’s just say that both deans hated me after that.

The excitement I felt when I heard the clicking sound of keyboards, saw the monochrome monitors, learned flowcharts, commands the computer either acknowledge or tell us that is was a “bad command or file name”, and using floppy diskettes and other computer peripherals --- these were experiences that I will never forget. I finally was taking the course that I wanted.

There was no internet that time, we learned everything by having a book beside us while using the computer. It was a challenge because good books were scarce, and available ones are not cheap. But that time it seems that everything was on my side. Our school was charged by the government to evaluate computer books before they can be published, so we were always the first ones to read them.

During summer, we were given the chance to be trained at the Government’s Department of Science and Technology under IT. It is where I got my first real coaching, more computer time for applications development, first experience at graphic arts and desktop publishing, and most importantly computer games. You can say it was a well-rounded experience.

After college, my love for IT remained. Routine work for IT people is to consistently be updated and to keep up with the times, which I do not consider routine at all given the diversity of things to be learned. Even now while creating this entry, I have at least five items on my plate, so I better get back to them already.

Re-posted from my blog site: http://www.technokid.tk