Computer Technologies Program The Bridge to a Career
What made you interested in technology?
I had an Atari video game set when I was ten or eleven years old. As an only child video games were my substitute brothers and sisters. I got interested in programming because I wanted to make my own video game and I did do that.
What did you do before your technology career?
This is my first professional job but before this I worked as a bicycle mechanic and a customer service person at Vail ski resort.
What is your disability?
I was born deaf.
What does your work place do to accommodate you?
My workplace provides a sign language interpreter for meetings, and a TTY for phone access. When there is a last minute meeting instead of having a sign language interpreter we can use a lap top computer for communication. When I started work a consultant was hired to do an in-service training to staff on deaf awareness. Deaf people often miss out on sound cues. It is difficult for me to know when a meeting is over. Now my co-workers know to let me in on this kind of information.
What training in technology do you have?
Other than the computer programming training at CTP and training at work, I am mostly self-taught on a personal computer.
What are your hobbies and interests?
I am a board sport enthusiast. I enjoy surf boarding, skate boarding and snow boarding. I also enjoy drawing, photography and making tin sculptures out of recycled materials.
What work do you do now?
I am on the middleware team for mainframe computers at Wells Fargo Bank. The work involves driving the client message to its destination and returning the response back to the client. For example, when someone makes a transaction on the ATM, the message has to go to an online Wells Fargo mainframe computer. Our programs receive these messages, perform necessary functions like translating the code (ASCII to EBCDIC or vice versa), decryption and journaling. These messages would then be sent to the destination specified by a control file record that we own and maintain. From time to time, we maintain or update our programs to recognize new message formats or provide special routing or editing services for clients who need them.
What do you like about your work?
I like programming because I can be creative. There is always a way to make the program and there is always something to learn. Right now I want to learn Java programming.