I have been involved in computers for practically my whole life. I started before I turned 10 years old programming in BASIC on a Tandy TRS-80 Personal Computer. I began taking apart and repairing electronic and mechanical devices from that point forward.

In jr. high and high school, the only class offered in computers was typing until my junior year of high school. I took the only other computer class which basically taught word processing and spreadsheets. The teacher handed out the workbook describing it as our homework. Bringing it back fully completed the second day, I was proud I had finally completed a homework assignment on time, only to have the teacher inform me that it was the entire semester’s homework, and that I had nothing else to do that year. I ended up being a teacher’s aide for that class.

In college, I started as a political science major, but quickly changed to computer science. At this time, the web was still somewhat in that toddler stage, and only the schools and a few people even had internet access. The computer science program I was in had very little to do with anything new, teaching only old languages such as Fortran and COBOL. I took a workstudy job in the library and was introduced to HTML at this point, but it was rapidly changing at this point, and was rather difficult to learn because of the rapidly changing standards.

I transferred during this time, and was frustrated to learn the new campus only taught BASIC and PASCAL languages, even though C, C++, and C# were the mainstream languages at that point. VisualBASIC was also coming into being and none of these were offered at that campus. I ended up with the advisor who did incoming student orientation, and he had requested that all of us get an email address to communicate with the staff regarding classes and assignments.

I began spending spare time in his office learning all I could about the web. I watched as transfer speeds went from 28.8 kbps to broadband, and built everything from simple text websites to multimedia rich (albeit slow loading) pages.

Under my advisors watchful eye, I grew in both design and graphical areas. I learned that websites needed to be attractive and usable. My advisor said I would really flourish as a Communications major, as websites were really just another means of communication. I switched majors the next day.

I transferred to my alma mater at this time, The University of Texas at Arlington. I really wished at this point that I had never left the Computer Sciences as they offered every programming language under the sun. I chose a specialty in Communications – Broadcasting, and began taking some Computer Science classes as electives. I learned DHTML, JavaScript, and CSS through those classes. My last semester, they introduced a new major in the Communications department, Communications Technology. Basically it specialized in communications over the internet. Being too late to switch my major (to not have another 2 years worth of classes), I petitioned to graduate with a minor in Comm Technology, and was awarded the honor due to the electives taken in the Computer Science department.

I have held several professional positions. The first, Computer Operator, I was responsible for overseeing nightly processes for a large payroll company. The second, an interim position, I worked for 3 years at a major retail chain, during which time I worked in the electronics department learning everything I could about hardware and various electronic devices. My current position, as IT Manager, has me operating and maintaining multiple computers and websites for a long successful e-commerce business.

I have learned to be proficient in the following programs: Adobe: Photoshop, Flash, Dreamweaver, Fireworks, Illustrator. Apple: Final Cut Pro, iMovie. Pinnacle Studio. Sony: Sound Forge, Sound Forge Pro, Acid, Vegas. WAMP (Windows, Apache, MySQL, PHP)

I am learning: Adobe: After Effects, Sound Booth

I am also proficient in the following languages: HTML, JavaScript, PHP.

I am learning: MySQL, Ajax.

If you have any further questions regarding my abilities, skillsets, or program knowledge, please, do not hesitate to contact me at the link above or to the side of the page.