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About Me  My story opens in the summer of 1971, The Vietnam war is still going on, Johnson has made a mess of it, and now, President Nixon is in office. The draft is looking me in the face, so off to college I go. At the time, there were college deferments and all one had to do was maintain a “C” grade point average. Most of the staff would do anything to see that you got a passing grade. There were clubs on campus with vets that would show you how to play the draft board game. You see, if your file was in review, you could not be drafted, so just like clockwork you would file a new report.
At the time, I was young and only in college to stay out of the draft. I did get one year in as an automotive major. In 1973, Nixon got us out of the war. With the war over, I once again could return to the life of a normal young adult. I could explore life without the threat of the draft hanging over my head. I could be focusing on things that interested me before the war. I could return to what every young adult does which is trying to find a place in the world.
As I had few job skills, I went from job to job. I was still young and living at home, so did not need much cash. In the fall of 1976, I first saw where I would spend the next twenty years of my life. The thing that I saw was a mainframe computer. It was about ten feet high and
over forty feet long, and it had a whopping 32K of memory, with a cost of over two million dollars. It was almost two years before I started my path into the computer field. In 1978, I entered college for the second time. I was young and full of hope and dreams. It was a lot of fun. This was a very new field and changing all the time.
I found the staff to be very fair in their grading and all testing was of a very logical nature. After my first year, I was very fortunate to be offered a job in the Fullerton Computer Lab and offered another job at Basic 4, (one of the first word processing companies). As I was getting ready to graduate, I was informed that CSC (one of the first time- sharing companies) had an opening with the county of Orange.
Two days after graduating from college, I was off working in the computer field. I did not know it at the time, but I was soon to be working for EDS and Ross Perot. It was a great place to gain information. I soon found that my skills had to be learned quickly as Mr. Perot’s standards were very high. Perot would not have it any other way. In 1985, I found that I was bored with EDS and returned to CSC. I was soon to meet the men that would shape computers as we know them today. There names were Fletcher Jones, Simon Moss, Roger Melon, Dr. Garland, and others. I worked side by side with them. These men made computer a household word.
I became president of the Co-horsts, a group of top computer professionals in the field, and then there was me, a kid just out of college. In addition, this was the start of my lifelong love of education. In 1990, it was time for me to return to formal school once more.
The computer industry had changed and so had I. The days of timesharing were gone. As the price of systems came down, there was a new market and that market was computer aided drafting. This time it was AutoCAD. This was taken at a vocational school. I was getting close to forty years old, and this was a very advanced course. If it had not been for my work ethic, I most likely would never have succeeded. It was time for me to start work for my self. I now had the knowledge and work skills to venture out on my own. I did so the next year, and until 1999, when I entered school once more to get my Microsoft MCP (Microsoft Certified Professional). I needed to have professional accreditation and this is one of the top along with A+ Accreditation. Both of these are very technical- based programs and would be on the level of two-year College work or higher, but accomplished in only forty weeks.
I had my own business as a computer consultant and tech until the loss of my wife in 2003, at which time I lost my business do to circumstances far beyond my control. I was very depressed, and having little reason to remain in Southern California, I packed up my life and made the move to a slower pace here in Northern California.
This shall be my last time at college. I am over fifty and finding it very hard this time. Some of the staff, in my view, grade very hard. Perhaps it is just my age or the fact that this is Northern California. I have found teaching styles and opinions to be very different here than from earlier times at college down south. One thing that I have seen here is the fact that my age plays no part in my interaction with classmates even though I am old enough to be their dad or uncle.
Will I make it? I made a comment to my wife recently that I have worked harder on this adventure than on any other in my life. This is my last chance to grow and change careers, and expand my knowledge. I want to succeed. I want it more than anything.
One must set priorities. In conclusion, if I had it to do over again I would have backed away from work at times to enjoy my personal life more and would have had a family. There is more to life than just work. One must learn to make time for oneself. I have learned now, as an older adult, that if one is only focused on his or her work, then one loses out on the adventures life has to offer. If I could go back in time thirty years, I would have satisfied more of my personal needs rather than making the needs and demands of the corporate world my number one and only priority.
| Site history This site was started in the fall of 2006, I have moved on to the LVN program. But do to the feedback from my Clasmates and others I have been asked to keep the site on-line Plase E-mail me and let me know if this has helped you Rick Horton July 7 2007 | |
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