So, on Live Journal there’s a question every day that is supposed to assist with Writer’s Block.  I have been struggling with things to write about, so I figured I would give this a shot. This is today’s question.

I started college at a community college in New Jersey called “Brookdale”.  I got my Associates in the Arts there for “Humanities”.  It’s just a super general degree with a concentration in the liberal arts.  I wasn’t sure what I wanted to do, but I really enjoyed literature classes.  Postulating on the different meanings of various texts was fun.  Spirited debates and writing papers on my opinions was really up my alley.  I enjoy the pursuit of higher learning in the sense of examination and critique.  I was never really drawn in by math or science.  History and Literature seemed like the ways to go.

When I went to Penn State, I first tried to major in “Criminal Psychology”.  But I found out that was not an offering.  How different things would have been had I gone that route?  I was so fascinated with serial killers and crime.  I wanted to be like the girl on “The Profiler” and help catch all the bad guys because I had some kind of eerie insight into their psyche.  Alas, it was not meant to be.

Professor Quelyn

So I changed to “English”.  During my studies I took classes concentrating on African American and Irish Literature.  I had some really amazing professors and great experiences.  I really wanted to be an English professor one day myself.  The big plan was to finish college, go onto get a masters and then my doctorate.  I was going to teach literature at university.  One of our professors told me that after you have tenure then you can pick a class of your choosing to teach.  I was going to become a science fiction literature teacher.  Reading and discussing Bradbury!  Talking about how crappy Stranger in a Strangeland is and how it is by no means the greatest science fiction book anywhere.  It would be splendid.

However, one day I was having an issue with the sound on my CD Burner, whenever I put in a CD I couldn’t hear any audio.  Other audio on the system worked fine, however.  I made sure the cable was connected like a million times, but I was still having the issue.  So I called up Residential Computing, a.k.a ResCom.  At this time, I had built my own computer, so I know what was going on, I just wanted a second opinion.  So someone comes into my room and they reboot the box, of course.  Then they are going to get into the BIOS, and they call into the main desk and say “How do I get into the BIOS again?”  I was pretty boggled that he was asking this question and I no longer needed his assistance.  I kindly asked for him to go since I had an appointment I had forgotten about.

So I spruced up my resume and marched down to the Rescom desk asking for a job.  I mean, this guy didn’t even know how to get into the BIOS without asking, surely this would be cake.  And I got the job.  So for the next 2 years I worked desktop repair/helpdesk.  It was possibly the best college job I ever could have gotten.  I made awesome friends, I learned new things, it was fantastic.

So, when I graduated from college I had two paths to pursue.  This career in technology that I had started up, or going back to more school and getting my masters.  Well, when I was applying to Masters programs they said I needed to have novel level reading & writing skills in another language.  I was confused since I wanted to teach American Literature, but there it was.

I wasn’t sure what to do, so I worked at the stock room in Barnes & Noble while I figured it out.  God, that was the worst job of my life.  I just needed to get out of there.  So, I got a job working support for a company called Sakar. They make little gadgets and knick knacks and they had a warehouse in Edison, NJ.  It was a pretty neat place to work.  I enjoyed helping people.  My communication skills worked well in this setting.  I was able to take good notes, translate technology into laymen’s terms and keep the customer’s happy.

And on and on it went until today.  Here I am working support for 12 years now.  Currently I do hardware storage and RAID support for EMC.  My English degree has helped me out a ton in the realm of communication. It really is quite important.  Clear notes, the ability to articulate a point in an e-mail, and comprehension of data that I am reading.  These are all skills that were honed via my studies in Literature.  I believe they dovetail nicely into what I am doing.

It’s not a direct correlation, but some of the most successful support folks I’ve ever met have come from liberal arts background.  I don’t know what the magic is, but it’s a good combination.

Whew!  That was longer than I planned.