My background starts out as any normal kid. I had a close knit family, a close neighborhood. I grew up playing sports (hockey, soccer, and baseball). I picked up percussion in 6th grade which grew into playing drumset in a punk rock band. I did reckless things like BMX and skateboarding. However, I got a lucky introduction to the I.T. industry.
I did all the typical Dad/Son things such as fishing, bike rides, throwing the baseball around in the front yard but it came with a treat. Often when we headed out we’d stop at Dads work. You see I had the privilege of growing up around a telco CO. I can still tell you the raised floor tile that the case of root beer was hidden under. I spent the time dad was fixing something playing with the punch down tool on empty blocks.
My Dad spent his entire career at the telco and that gave me a slightly spoiled early access to computers and dial-up/dsl internet. Ultimately that drove me to an associates degree in network administration from my local community college. From there I pursued various certifications across this industry and took up various jobs. My list of achievements are below:
Associates in Applied Science: Network Administration – Alpena Community College 2008
CompTIA A+ – 2009
CompTIA Network+ – 2009
CompTIA Security+ – 2009
W3 HTML Developer – 2009
Apple Certified Support Professional 10.5 – 2009
CompTIA Server+ – 2010
Cisco Certified Entry Networking Technician (CCENT)
Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) – 2011
CompTIA Linux+ – 2012
Novell Certified Linux Administrator – 2012
LPIC-1 (Linux Professional Institute – 2012
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist – Windows 7 Configuration – 2012
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist – Server 2008 Active Directory Configuration – 2012
Cisco Certified Network Associate Voice (CCNA Voice) – 2012
Microsoft Certified Technology Specialist – Server 2008 Network Infrastructure Configuration – 2012
Microsoft Certified IT Professional – Server Administrator on Server 2008 – 2012
Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) Sever 2008 – 2012
VMware Certified Professional vSphere 5 – 2013
Cisco Certified Network Professional (CCNP) – 2013
VMware Certified Associate Data Center Virtualization – 2013
VMware Certified Associate Workforce Mobility – 2013
VMware Certified Associate Cloud – 2013
Cisco Certified Network Associate Security – 2014
Cisco Certified Design Associate – 2015
Brocade Certified vRouter Engineer 2013 – 2015
Cisco Certified Design Professional – 2015
Cisco Certified Network Associate Collaboration – 2016
Silver Peak SDWAN Professional 2019
Silver Peak SDWAN eXpert – 2019
Cisco Certified Specialist – Enterprise SD-WAN – 2020