As many of us have been reflecting on the life of Steve Jobs, I have read memories that people have written about him, and what his work have meant to them. This is not a memory of Steve Jobs. But rather, a recollection of my introduction to the company he co-founded and the impact it came to have on my career.
In 2005, I enrolled to Berea College in Berea, Kentucky. A requirement for all students was to maintain a 10-20 hours-per-week job. Many students who are freshmen or transfers were placed in areas like maintenance and could only work for 10 hours a week, encouraging the students to work their way up to better jobs and more hours. Because I am a little person, I was placed into a position which was far less physically taxing, the college computer help desk department, known as IS&S. Berea College maintained an exclusive contract with Dell to supply laptops and laptop components as part of a free laptop program at Berea.
While working at IS&S, I learned to troubleshoot, dismantle and repair Dell laptops that were deployed to all students. The work was fast paced and sometimes exciting; however, the issues were consistent. 95% of the complaints were derived from the usual suspects; viruses, spyware or malware. After a few semesters, I realized that it was the same routine – running virus scans, backing up the student’s data, cleaning off hard drives and restoring the machines. My desire to help people solve their computer woes began to fade, as I saw these issues preventable. Until then, all I had ever seen myself doing was I.T. troubleshooting and support. This job was changing all of that. The more I helped people recurring problems, the more I felt that the PC ecosystem was flawed. There just had to be a better way.
The only Apple computers on campus were housed by professors who demanded them as their main machine or computer labs in courses that required them. As part of the degree I was pursuing, I had to take classes in graphic design. By the second week, we began meeting in the graphics lab, a room filled with 25 Apple pro-grade desktop machines. With the success of the iPod, I knew a little about Apple and had checked out their computers on the internet in the past. But, this would be the first chance I had to interact with one.
A guy in the class with me help me get acclimated and mentioned that the beauty of the Mac was the ease-of-use. There was also no spyware, no viruses, and minimal sudden crashes. The interplay of software and hardware fascinated me right away. I was in love. The class and experience with the Mac as a tool inspired me to pursue several creative outlets, including web design. The following semester, I left IS&S to work for the public relations office performing duties in web design. This was the start of my creative work.
My passion for web design grew so much that it became more important to me than school work. To me, I had found my passion and was running with it. After all, part of college is all about finding what you’re passionate about and pursuing it, right? A few years later, I dropped out of college when I was offered a full-time position doing the work I loved.
Some might see this as a waste of time, money and resources. But, if it had not been for that experience and being inspired in that way, my career path may have turned out very different. However, I strongly believe that God allows these sort of things happen for a reason; this is no exception. Just as a carpenter might prefer Stanley, Craftsman, or Kobalt branded tools, the Mac is my tool of choice and has been since that day, years ago, in the Berea College graphics lab.