Early on in my career in California, I focused solely on obtaining IT certifications and trainings due to a lack of financial resources. Perhaps this process started with me obtaining a HAM radio license in my senior year of high school, in 2001, in which I was guaranteed an “A” in Mr. Hoskins’ electronics class if I obtained my HAM license. I never really used it very much, other than to talk to a couple of friends that I made through a fellow student in the electronics class.
I also completed Semester 1 of the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) training at Turlock High School, under the direction of Mr. Hoskins, and travelled with him during the summer of 2001 to Merced Community College to complete Semester 2, under the direction of William Walls. I later completed Semesters 3 and 4 during my first year at Merced College, which completed my CCNA training. In my first year of college, I also became A+ certified, in which I took an official class for CompTIA A+ training under the direction of Billy Avery, and I became an Adobe Certified Website Designer through another Cisco sponsored Adobe Curriculum class, in which the class did a website project for Lawrence Livermore National Laboratories. I also started developing with Microsoft Visual Studio at Merced Community College in 2002.
During years 2 and 3 at Merced College, I took the Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) training courses, which were comprised of 4 Semesters of training. After the CCNP program, I switched majors to Business Administration at Modesto Junior College.
It should be noted that I never actually went and took the exams through Prometric for the CCNA or CCNP, however I believed at the time that completing the training modules that were through an official Cisco Systems Regional Training Academy, was of greater value than taking 5 tests that would have undoubtedly found that I was competent in what I had taken the training for – directly from Cisco Systems.
Later in my life, I became a Registered Partner of Microsoft Corporation, in which I scored highly on the Small Business Sales and Marketing Assessment, and became a Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist (MCTS) and a Microsoft Certified Professional (MCP) ID# 6983472. My company, MCE123, has been a registered Microsoft Partner since 2006.
In 2017, I began software development work with my company's Microsoft Partnership, again, through my M.S. Information Technology degree work at the University of New Hampshire in Manchester, NH.
Microsoft. (2009, June 23). Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, SharePoint Services 3.0 Configuration
Microsoft. (2009, June 23). Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist, MCP ID# 6983472
Microsoft. (2007, November 30). Small Business Sales and Marketing Assessment.
Adobe. (2002, September 21). Fundamentals of Web Design. Sponsored by Adobe.
CompTIA A+. (2001, December 17). CompTIA A+ Certified Professional. CompTIA ID No. COMP10598087. View Badge Online.
CCNA 1-2. (2001, June 17). Cisco Networking Academy Program - Semesters 1 and 2. Certificate#: 104803-408439-428104.
CCNA 1-4. (2002, June 10). Cisco Networking Academy Program - Semesters 1 through 4. Certificate#: 174997-261937-428104.