At age eight, I began teaching myself web development. Over time, I progressed through HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, MySQL, and PHP. I also studied Objective-C, although I did not exercise it as extensively as I did web development. Later, when managing a small niche real estate business and needing a web presence to market it, those abilities became immediately practical.
One of my major strengths is teaching myself or others. Fortunately, one can learn almost anything online. Therefore, I mastered web programming and design, according to my professors and professionals who critiqued my work. Consequently, this ability became useful in multiple arenas and landed me the nickname of "Tech Guru" from the technology personnel at Heartland Community College.
When the stumped professionals needed help, they asked me to brainstorm solutions. Such also led to my teaching technology as a Technology Lab Assistant and adjunct instructor serving students with medical disabilities, from low-income backgrounds, or facing first-generation barriers through Project RISE. I was employed by the college and contracted by Project RISE. I worked with fantastic people like Faye, Nikki, and Jan.
They helped me discover teaching and serving others comes naturally to me. But most importantly, business is my most substantial interest and ability. Such was because, despite my giftedness with technology, I did not want to do IT or be the Opera Singer my music professors hoped I would be. Instead, finance, investing, and accounting were the sirens calling me from many avenues.
Yes, my IT skills come in handy as I also earned a side income while in school and, to this day, managing servers. I am also fascinated by R, a programming language used by statisticians and economists, and by R-squared as a measure used in financial and business analytics. I think both are a blast!