Found Not Lost

Everyone must realize by now how the IT field is growing by leaps and bounds and anyone who is in the industry and is good at what they do is guaranteed to remain gainfully employed. Whether you are just thinking of getting into the field or are already in the field and are just looking to get ahead, a Cisco certification can open a lot of doors for you.

It used to be that when you say you’re going into computers, everyone assumes that you will become a programmer. Well even if your exposure to today’s technology is minimal, you’ll realize that the world of computers has gone way beyond simple programming. An IT professional can work as a network security specialist, security administrator, network security support engineer, voice administrator, voice engineer, voice manager, and many other areas of expertise. Some people gain access to those jobs through education, some through experience, but to keep those jobs they all have to maintain a level of knowledge in order to keep up with the ever changing state of technology. A Cisco certification, the guaranteed seal of approval in the IT world, will do that for you.

If you are interested in getting certified, look through their list of general certifications or if you’d like, they also offer more advanced specialist certifications in areas such as Advanced Routing and Switching, Data Center Certifications, IP Communications, Wireless LAN, and VPN and Security. The field is endless. The great thing is, almost every corporation now needs a crack team of IT specialists in order to keep their wheels turning. There is no better time to get in the IT field than now.

Frank McCourt won the Pulitzer price for his first Novel, Angela’s Ashes, which chronicles his childhood in Ireland. Teacher Man is his third book and here he talks about the thirty years he spent teaching English in New York City. He writes in a very relaxed, narrative style with plenty of humor and wittiness interspersed. While everyone says this is a must read for teachers, I think it is also a must read for parents. I think many parents don’t realize the work it takes to be a teacher. We sometimes forget that they are human too, just like us, no worst and no better.

Teacher Man follows McCourt’s journey through teaching from the very first days floundering in the classroom to the very last, where alas, he is still floundering but with a little more finesse. Isn’t that the same way for most of us, especially when it comes to dealing with young people? Teens are an enigma that we can never hope to solve and the sooner that we learn that the better. Of course, we don’t and we all flounder along bumping into each other until we bump in just the right direction and something wonderful comes out. That’s kind of how McCourt chronicles his teaching experience. I think the greatest thing he did was to admit that he is there to learn just as much as his students are, if not more so.

Whether you’re a teacher or a writer, I think this book provides great insight into the profession and encourages quite a bit of introspection, which, for books, I think is a great thing.