I love technology. I always have. I decided when I was 15 years old that I was going to become a Network Administrator. Many people decide their careers at a young age, but few set out to make it happen. I took initiative. I started doing IT work around my Jr. High School. I quickly logged onto the internet daily after school. When I started High School I worked it out with the principal to let me have part of my days to work with our IT staff. I helped build the network in the Lebanon R-3 school district. I ran wires, punched down jacks. I installed hard drives, and reformatted machines. I made cables, and maintained routers. I loved every minute of it.

As a senior I had to make a tough decision. I couldn't take both band and have my time away for IT. I weighed the costs and benefits. Band lost. It was tough. I had been first chair percussionist since 6th grade. But I was looking toward my career, and my high school had allowed me to flourish. They were allowing me to leave campus for half of every other day and work for a local corporation as and assistant network admin.

I spent my senior year help to ensure Copland wasn't devastated by Y2K, and then I set my sights on college. I had decided to go to Mizzou. So I went to www.missouri.edu and found the IATS (Information and Access Technology Service) page on the site. It was pure luck that when I decided to email IATS about working for them my freshman year, that I chose the department head. He was impressed with my 'go-get-em' attitude and called me up for an interview. I spent the day with IATS watching and learning. I met the staff and the person who would be my supervisor, and then I met for a personal interview with the department head. It was short and sweet and he was very complimentary. He assured me that when I got to Mizzou next fall, I would be welcome at IATS.

That's how it all began. That's how I became a network administrator. My resume says it all. I'm 25 years old with over 7 years of experience working with networks ranging in size from 6 machines connected peer to peer, to a WAN the size of the University of Missouri. Connecting people, creating a flow of data! It's invigorating work. I'm very lucky.