Growing up, I never thought that I would grow up to fall in love with IT. I remember instances when I would have laptops and smartphones at my disposal to play and surf the internet. Nonetheless, what amazed me about all these gadgets was the fact that wires and systems came together to make it work and facilitate information exchange. Right now, you most probably have a laptop or a phone at your disposal. These gadgets work seamlessly to make information and communication possible. Now that I look back at my life, my passion for IT came at those moments, when I would have the laptop and open it up to figure out what caused it to work as it did. A major part of this childhood passion grew to form what Tucker calls making Information Technology work for businesses and organizations around the world (12). I am now applying to work with ALDI in the position of an IT specialist to keep this dream of using IT to help people make a difference a living reality for me and the world.
I am currently pursuing a degree in Networking and security at DePaul University based in Chicago. I joined the university in January 2018 and expect to graduate in 2020. One of my driving forces at the university, which I intend to bring to my position at ALDI is a commitment to excellence both in my coursework, theory and practice. This is evident in my current GPA of 4.0. My commitment to making a difference did not start at DePaul University. Back in 2017, while studying at Harry S Truman in Chicago, I pursued an associate degree in general studies and attained a GPA of 3.8. What I got with the nature of IT course I pursued is the constant practice and learning we all have by the virtue of having access to education. Due to this realization, I took on two Cisco certifications including CCNA certification, and CCNP certification. These papers have given me an opportunity to practice within various fields and domains bringing the life of IT to human interactions and connections.
As The Clute Institute rightly affirms, leveraging innovation requires creativity and going beyond ones comforts (43). Besides my certifications, I also have experience working with several platforms where I have acquired valuable skills and experience in IT and communication. At DePaul University, I am currently a network lab assistant since May 2018. In this position, I am responsible for maintaining the network environment that include running Cisco switches, ASA, routers as well as active directories. I also support students to conduct their lab sessions through troubleshooting various network devise such as Cisco switches, firewalls and routers. Finally, I make sure that the students and faculty have a safe and clean environment to run their projects. These roles have inspired me to connect people to IT systems, listening to their issues and finding areas of IT that I may serve them. In the process, I have also acquired additional skills such as Cisco router switches, ASA, and firewalls-checkpoint among others. In my certifications and work experience, I also know the L2 and L3 technologies such as TCP/IP, RIP. EIGRP, MPLS among others. These skills are besides my basic MS Office skills such as word and access.
Finally, when not in the IT space, I also value community service and collaboration. Some of the activities and affiliations I have include the National society of leadership and success at DePaul University since March 2018 to the present. I also belonged and contributed to the Phi Theta Kappa honor society of Harry S. Truman College from 2016 October to 2017. Other notable projects include the One Million Dollar Degree Scholar as well as the Trio Scholar of Harry S. Truman College. These activities and affiliations enabled me to get out of the IT space and interact with people in the society. I took on responsibilities that inspire my creativity and service. These skills, experience and education make the best fit for an IT position at ALDI
Work Cited
A Lean Innovation Model to Help Organizations Leverage Innovation for Economic Value: a Proposal. The Clute Institute, 2014. Archival material. 13th November 2018. https://clutejournals.com/index.php/IJMIS/article/download/8491/8500
Tucker, Simon. Social Innovation for Public Service Excellence. Sngapore: UNDP Global Centre for Public Service Excellence, 2014. Web. 13th November 2018. http://www.undp.org/content/dam/uspc/docs/GPCSE_Social%20Innovation.pdf