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I'm trying to figure our where to begin. I've gone from sleeping in a graveyard across from harvard university to being a recipient of the Microsoft MVP Award. I don't really think It's been any one single moment that brought me here either. But rather a collection of opportunities. To be honest I don't think I could have achieved anywhere near what I have without the people who had faith in me and gave me those opportunities. I guess the best place to start is at the very beginning. My birth mother was just not able to take care of me. So at the age of three, I was taken away and entered foster care. I bounced from foster home to foster home for about a year before being adopted into a middle class family. Growing up I was always the outsider, unable to really make friends or trust anyone. I was pretty much a mess and just unable to get past what had happened. I would lash out, sometimes violently at almost anyone that tried to get close, including my adopted family. By the time I was 17 it boiled over. I ended up homeless on the streets. I went to whats known as "The Pit" in harvard square. There I found others who had similar situations or even worse situations. Some ran away because their parents beat or molested them. Others like myself had been kicked out. The main binding thread between us was we all felt like fuckups who had no value. There was also a third group, kids who had homes but hung out with us anyway. Eventually I became friends with one of those kids from the third group. His father worked for Newbury Comics which is a local new england record, comics, misc type store. Eventually he offered me a job working in the warehouse. Quite frankly it changed my life. I got my first apartment, first car, etc and started building my life. I studied and applied myself. I ended up eventually in IT as a web developer. Then I met my wife! A few years later, I wound up as a database administrator. I can't say enough about user groups, sqlsaturdays, blogs, etc. I was self taught so these resources helped me grow my career. Eventually I started giving back and helped support/run these groups. This lead to me finding mentors who further encouraged me and helped me by providing advice and guidance. They shared with me not only their knowledge and experience but in some cases details about their lives and struggles. This helped not only on a professional level but also a personal one. Around 2014 I was speaking regularly at conferences like SQLSaturdays and usergroups as well as organizing them. In 2016 I was awarded Microsoft Data Platform MVP Award. This award is given to folks who Microsoft recognizes as technical and community leaders. But that won't be my biggest accomplishment. That honor is reserved for raising my son who was born in 2015.
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Aug 22, 2017 20:32
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| # ¿ May 10, 2024 03:28 |
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photomikey posted:Did you ever make up with your adopted family? I did apologize to them and for the most part it is behind us. I recognize that the fault lies with me and not them. That being said they are still a painful reminder of my past. But one I can deal with.
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Aug 23, 2017 18:28
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