Room Full of Mirrors

… and all I could see was me

A New Career

The HUB paperweight In 1999 I started work at Clayton State University as a student employee. I turned my self-developed troubleshooting skills into a a job at the university’s help desk: The HUB. After a few years I moved over to the networking department, ostensibly to help build out and test the wireless network. After graduation, I was brought back as a full-time employee in the enterprise applications department to support various backend systems. This role grew into a systems administration role wherein I was ultimately responsible for the extensive Red Hat Enterprise Linux infrastructure as the campus’s sole Linux administrator. At the same time, I was responsible for developing and maintaing the university’s student web portal. All the while, I spent my free time working on open source software as a hobby. That hobby has turned into a new career. Tomorrow I start my new role as a software engineer at Knock.com.

I am genuinely exicited about my path forward. I get to work with some really smart people and help to grow a company that I think is going to be a major force for change in the real estate industry. I truly enjoy writing software that people love to use. And being a part of the team that develops the platform people will use to make their next home purchase and sale easier will be a unique experience.

This post has primarily been about marking the occasion for myself. But I also want to thank the people who moved me foward at Clayton State University:

  • Debye Baird: thank you for taking a chance on the guy that was always hanging out in the public area of The HUB.
  • Dan Newcombe: thank you for finding a spot on your team for me.
  • Tom Marshall: thank you for brining me on full time.
  • Jason Berry: thank you for trusting in my skills and doing what you could to keep me around.