Adam earned four certifications – which require an industry-recognized exam – by the time he graduated. Jonathan said he enjoys getting updates from his students. “It’s such a gratifying feeling to see my students succeed in industry after graduation and hear that they look back fondly at my classes as the catalyst to their amazing careers,” he said. Sam’s entry into the field involved planning and serendipity. The math education program she ultimately left required a couple computer science classes, which got her attention. The four-year college did not offer a computer science major, so she went home to Bloomfield, got a teller job at Canandaigua National Bank and started a mix of FLCC online and night classes in information systems. One day her boss at the Eastview Mall branch gave her a heads up that the chief of IT for the bank would be visiting. “My boss said, ‘You need to mention to her that you are going to school for IT right now.’” Sam did exactly that and soon had a temporary posting from the cover She credits professors Jeffrey Howard and Jonathan Weissman for unfailing support. “It’s hard not to second-guess yourself in this field. It’s really hard to be confident,” she said. “Professor Weissman said to me that I was the smartest person who didn’t think they were smart that he ever knew. That was very enlightening and helpful for me.” Discovering IT Katherine had a knack for technology but never gave IT a thought until she tired of hospitality. “I started at FLCC right when I was 18, but I really didn’t know what I wanted to focus on. So I took some time off, got some real-world experience and realized it’s tough out there without a degree.” “My focus was, ‘What can I get a job in?’ because I talked to a lot of other friends and colleagues who don’t use their degrees. And I said, ‘I’m not doing that.’” Katherine opened an FLCC catalog, flipped through, stopped at IT and thought, “Let’s see what this is all about. I went in with an open mind, hoping to utilize my degree because I was trying to get a good job with benefits and start on my path with a career.” David came to FLCC initially to enroll in the office technologies certificate program, and Colleen Aiezza in the workforce development office asked him: Why not a degree? Had he thought about IT? “I found it very rewarding. The difference between high school and college, to me, was huge. The social pressures were gone, the stress was gone, and you actually get to pick the subject matter, so you really enjoy it.” The networking and cybersecurity program, he said, helped him understand the industry and what his place in it might be. “It’s like an ice cream store because it gives you tastes of different aspects of IT. There’s server administration, a little bit of cybersecurity, a little bit of forensics, a little bit of hardware. It’s all in there.” Adam agreed. “Professor Weissman not only has an ability to teach everyone with great understanding, but he pushes you to understand the real world of IT and the IT career field. He pushes industry certifications and their importance,” he said. 6 | theLAKER Adam Keuer is the assistant IT director at the Mozaic human service agency in Waterloo and a 2013 graduate of the networking and security associate degree program, now called networking and cybersecurity. PHOTO BY JAN REGAN
RkJQdWJsaXNoZXIy NTcyNDA=