I have had so many opportunities to make a decision that would change some part of my life. Deciding on a major and a college when I was 17 years old. Moving 1300 miles away from where I spent the first 22 years of my life, to a town I didn't know a single person. Taking a job that would put me in a long distance relationship and once again alone in a new state. In February of 2024, I had enough of this constant change in my life. I wanted something permanent, something I could grow, thrive, and dedicate my time to.
With the growth and change of technology throughout my whole life, this has been something that has always been in the background of my life. From taking apart old electronics to playing video games my whole life, my life has always be surrounded by technology and the internet. If only 17-year-old Ben could have thought of what the future would be full of and what careers would have been smarter to pursue. If I were to repeat it all I would have gone to school for Cybersecurity or just another general sector of Information Technology. Luckily, I am not that old and my passion for learning is still as high as it could be. This is my journey to working within IT.
On May 12th, 2024 I gave the Principal Investigator I was working under a two months notice on my departure from my current position. For the past year I had been living in New Orleans where I was working at LSU - Health Science Center within the Physical Therapy Department. This job was a lot of administration and research work, and never felt fulfilling. Growing up in Southern New Hampshire my whole life didn't prepare me for the culture shock I would get moving to South Georgia and then New Orleans. Everything about New Orleans was unique and different then back home. The food, the community, the culture, the parades, THE PARADES. This was one of the most unique places I have ever lived in my whole life and everyone that visited me said the same thing.
Before giving my supervisor my notice of leave, I took my time with this decision. I talked to old friends from college, reached out to people on social media, and did my countless hours of research to see if this was going to be a good fit. During this time I also began working on my first certification exam, CompTIA A+. This certification was very interesting as it covered such a large amount of material in so many different sectors. I only went through the 1101 course, and to this day I still dont know if its worth it to finish the 1102 portion. Getting your foot in the door seemed to be the hardest part of IT and through my many Reddit Forums, Discord groups, and ChatGPT prompts they would all seem to agree. I would soon learn this is super dependent on HR, the job itself, and many other factors that tend to be out of your control. On July 26th, I left New Orleans and drove all the way to Athens, Georgia with no job but still determined.
Goodbye Clinical Trials Coordinator in New Orleans and hello future IT Professional in Athens Georgia.
~ Ben Paquette