We're going to need a calligrapher...
In case you haven't been keeping up, I've been busy applying to DePaul and subsequently registering for my first classes. Today is not just my 29th birthday, but also the deadline for my scholarship application for Spring quarter, which starts on March 27th. I'm enrolled in the seminar I have to attend prior to the start of of the quarter, which meets Saturdays from 9am to 1pm downtown. Luckily, I get credit hours for the seminar and it will help me map out my education plan, so it's not like I'm getting up at the ass-crack of dawn for some meaningless student orientation session, which would totally suck.
As an extra bonus, a membership to use the gym and recreation facilities is only $79 per quarter as a part-time student. Where do you think I'm going as soon as I get my student ID? Yeah, that's right...I'll be ready for the season before it even starts.
Without further ado. the essay from my application for the Dean's Scholarship for Spring quarter:
Throughout my career in technology, I’ve had the opportunity to meet, learn from, teach, and mentor many different people. In my life away from work, I’ve always made an effort to apply my experience and expertise to projects and causes that benefit my community. It has often been suggested that one way for me to combine these two aspects of my life would be for me to teach college students in a computer science program somewhere. The major obstacle has always been my lack of a college degree, which could potentially put the accreditation of any school at which I taught in jeopardy.
The reason it has taken me so long to return to school has largely been a lack of clear purpose in my own mind. I’ve always had the motivation to return and complete my degree, but I’ve had a lot of problems deciding what to study. I knew that I didn’t want to sit through a lot of classes that wouldn’t teach me anything new, but I couldn’t figure out what I really wanted to learn. Recently, events in my life have inspired me to review my life choices with a critical eye and determine whether I’m on a course that will leave me satisfied when I reach my final destination.
If you’ve ever taken pause to examine your life in great detail, you may have discovered some of the things that I did. I realized that my choices have taken me a lot further in life than anyone ever expected me to go, but that I’m nowhere near finished setting or achieving new objectives. I realized that the people that have influenced me along the way are just as important as the way I’ve influenced the people in my life. I came to understand that I’m a better and stronger person than I thought I was, but that I’m neither as good nor as strong as I’d like to be. Finally, I realized that it’s far more important that the steps I take help me to be a better person and build a stronger community around myself than the path on which I take those steps.
My quest to give back to my community through causes that I care about led me to volunteer for a non-profit advocacy organization in Chicago. After my initial volunteer work with Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, I was asked to become part of the committee responsible for much of the planning and operation of Bike the Drive. My work on that first committee then lead to being asked to join their Event Strategy Committee, to help create a new Marketing Committee for the entire organization, and ultimately to co-chair the new Marketing Committee.
In my career, I’ve often observed a disconnect between the marketing and technology professionals in many service organizations with technology-based products. As my career has advanced, I’ve created opportunities for myself and other technology professionals to work with some of those disconnected marketing professionals in small, product-focused teams in these types of organizations. I had a theory, based on a combination of anecdotal evidence and my own experiences with agile development methodologies, that small teams with direct interaction between the product managers and the development and testing staff could be significantly more efficient and release higher quality software that could meet or exceed expectations, with a shorter development cycle. The theory proved not only to be a reality, but one that could easily be reproduced.
Over the years, I’ve worked hands-on with various marketing projects, organizations, and individual professionals. These experiences have led me to a better understanding of both business in general and marketing in particular. I have discovered that I greatly enjoy the time I spend using my creativity to tackle marketing problems, particularly when I get to work with the business and technology aspects of those problems as well.
During my period of introspection, I came to the conclusion that it was do-or-die time for me in regards to education. As a life-long learner through books, experimentation, and observation, I’ve advanced myself to a point where there are several awards and certificates on my wall, but no advanced diplomas. Some of the things I want to learn, do, and incorporate into my intellectual toolbox can be learned in school. Returning to school will allow me to develop additional knowledge I need to better apply my technical and creative skills.
Ultimately, I want to expand my set of marketing and business skills to complement the business, technology, and creative skills already in my toolbox. I want to earn an MBA and possibly an MS as well, both with a marketing focus. I want to apply those skills in ways that will help me develop the experience to be viewed as an expert, so that I can help carve out a new career path for those that come after me, a path that combines technical and marketing expertise in ways rarely seen today, in the hopes that it will become more common, and lead to better products. I’m ready to create a paradigm shift, which is why I’m back in school, preparing to pave the path on which I hope many will walk in years to come.
And yes, I plan to teach every step of the way.
As an extra bonus, a membership to use the gym and recreation facilities is only $79 per quarter as a part-time student. Where do you think I'm going as soon as I get my student ID? Yeah, that's right...I'll be ready for the season before it even starts.
Without further ado. the essay from my application for the Dean's Scholarship for Spring quarter:
Throughout my career in technology, I’ve had the opportunity to meet, learn from, teach, and mentor many different people. In my life away from work, I’ve always made an effort to apply my experience and expertise to projects and causes that benefit my community. It has often been suggested that one way for me to combine these two aspects of my life would be for me to teach college students in a computer science program somewhere. The major obstacle has always been my lack of a college degree, which could potentially put the accreditation of any school at which I taught in jeopardy.
The reason it has taken me so long to return to school has largely been a lack of clear purpose in my own mind. I’ve always had the motivation to return and complete my degree, but I’ve had a lot of problems deciding what to study. I knew that I didn’t want to sit through a lot of classes that wouldn’t teach me anything new, but I couldn’t figure out what I really wanted to learn. Recently, events in my life have inspired me to review my life choices with a critical eye and determine whether I’m on a course that will leave me satisfied when I reach my final destination.
If you’ve ever taken pause to examine your life in great detail, you may have discovered some of the things that I did. I realized that my choices have taken me a lot further in life than anyone ever expected me to go, but that I’m nowhere near finished setting or achieving new objectives. I realized that the people that have influenced me along the way are just as important as the way I’ve influenced the people in my life. I came to understand that I’m a better and stronger person than I thought I was, but that I’m neither as good nor as strong as I’d like to be. Finally, I realized that it’s far more important that the steps I take help me to be a better person and build a stronger community around myself than the path on which I take those steps.
My quest to give back to my community through causes that I care about led me to volunteer for a non-profit advocacy organization in Chicago. After my initial volunteer work with Chicagoland Bicycle Federation, I was asked to become part of the committee responsible for much of the planning and operation of Bike the Drive. My work on that first committee then lead to being asked to join their Event Strategy Committee, to help create a new Marketing Committee for the entire organization, and ultimately to co-chair the new Marketing Committee.
In my career, I’ve often observed a disconnect between the marketing and technology professionals in many service organizations with technology-based products. As my career has advanced, I’ve created opportunities for myself and other technology professionals to work with some of those disconnected marketing professionals in small, product-focused teams in these types of organizations. I had a theory, based on a combination of anecdotal evidence and my own experiences with agile development methodologies, that small teams with direct interaction between the product managers and the development and testing staff could be significantly more efficient and release higher quality software that could meet or exceed expectations, with a shorter development cycle. The theory proved not only to be a reality, but one that could easily be reproduced.
Over the years, I’ve worked hands-on with various marketing projects, organizations, and individual professionals. These experiences have led me to a better understanding of both business in general and marketing in particular. I have discovered that I greatly enjoy the time I spend using my creativity to tackle marketing problems, particularly when I get to work with the business and technology aspects of those problems as well.
During my period of introspection, I came to the conclusion that it was do-or-die time for me in regards to education. As a life-long learner through books, experimentation, and observation, I’ve advanced myself to a point where there are several awards and certificates on my wall, but no advanced diplomas. Some of the things I want to learn, do, and incorporate into my intellectual toolbox can be learned in school. Returning to school will allow me to develop additional knowledge I need to better apply my technical and creative skills.
Ultimately, I want to expand my set of marketing and business skills to complement the business, technology, and creative skills already in my toolbox. I want to earn an MBA and possibly an MS as well, both with a marketing focus. I want to apply those skills in ways that will help me develop the experience to be viewed as an expert, so that I can help carve out a new career path for those that come after me, a path that combines technical and marketing expertise in ways rarely seen today, in the hopes that it will become more common, and lead to better products. I’m ready to create a paradigm shift, which is why I’m back in school, preparing to pave the path on which I hope many will walk in years to come.
And yes, I plan to teach every step of the way.