Excuse me… I am new to the University. I have never used email — can you show me how, please?
“Damn this email sucks! People keep messaging me, they won’t pick up their damn phone and want a response the same day. I hate this email crap!” words I can remember clear as day from my old man growing up in the 1990’s. At my house computers were looked at as a pain in the ass and nothing but a piece of plastic. My father was a face-to-face guy. As a salesman, he needed to see your face, hear your voice and feel your energy. This is what made him great. Needless to say that left the rest of us never really knowing what a computer was. There were no computers at the Murphy house during my childhood.
sure, I played around with the slow DOS Mac or PC in school back then. Playing Oregon Trail and loving every minute of it. Thinking this is the coolest thing ever. But, back then the computer was like an embryo in your mothers stomach. Just an idea trying to find its way into this world. Actual computers, as we know them today, didn’t really get going until the late 1990’s. At least that’s how I remember it. So, when the time came to pursue my college degree I realized really fast what a computer was — email was my fist real introduction.
I’ll never forget walking into the computer lab shortly after arriving to college. It was a shock getting back into school after 2 years off playing junior hockey in the USHL. It’s amazing how in just two years things had changed so fast. On my checklist of “To-Do’s” was, “Get your university email created and familiarize yourself with it.” Not having a computer of my own, I went down to the computer lab and got behind a computer. “I can figure this out. How hard can it be, really!” Standing there for 15 minutes, what seemed like 1hr, staring at the screen trying to figure out where to start. Which button am I supposed to hit. How does this work? Frustrated, but mostly feeling really stupid, I thought to myself, “I am probably the only one here that doesn’t have a clue how to create or open my email.” Then I looked around and observed everyone around me. The girl to my right was typing away on her email, while laughing. The dude to my left had his computer flashing like he was scrolling through a book from one page to the next. The help desk women way typing so fast is sounded like a machine gun. Realizing I might be the only dummy who can’t open a simple email I began to get a stomach ache, the cold sweats and anxiety started to set in. “I have no clue how to find, setup or use email. WOW! this is going to be a long road to get through college.” I remember saying to myself, standing there, as reality just hit me in the face.
Being the jock I was, I gathered my courage, walked up to the help desk and muttered words I will never forget, “Um, I don’t know how email works. I’ve never really used a computer. Could you help me?” I am not joking you when I say the help desk women looked at me with an expression of utter shock. Almost like she had seen a ghost. Yeah, that made me feel a lot better. NOT!
Failure Is The First Step To success
After figuring out email, realizing how simple it really was I began to explore the computer. I got my old man to dig in his wallet, like all college kids do (at the peak of their influence on mom & dad) and got my own. This is when the thought of becoming a computer programmer entered my mind.
You know when you buy a car… then you start seeing all the other people around you who have the same car? That’s what happened when I started thinking about computer programming. I started to find the people in that field, learned more research about what it entails and got really excited when I learned how much money MIS graduates where getting paid when they graduated. They were even getting $5,000-$10,000 signing bonuses. What!
I would be lying to you if the money wasn’t a big factor in my decision to become an Management Information Systems graduate. However, that was not my driving force. Deep down inside, that place where you have conversations with yourself. Like when you catch yourself talking out loud in the car… and you are the only one in it. Yeah, that place. I knew, deep down, I was a builder. I had an instinct and drive for creating things with my hands or my mind. I love the feeling you get when you start with nothing and leave behind a piece of yourself. I thrived on knowing and dreaming about what was possible. This is what computer programming gave me the ability to do. DREAM. Plus, I could build things that would help people.
I could tell you about all of the struggles, all nighters, stress and how many times I wanted to quit. I could even tell you about how I almost had a mental breakdown trying to juggle 3 MIS 300 & 400 level courses while at the same time taking finance and calculus (I hated calc — what do you need that for) along with playing college hockey. Sarah, now my wife, was there during this. She almost had a mental breakdown with me. “Murph, seriously! Why are you putting yourself through this… You know there is an easier way.”
Why! because I set a goal. Why! because I loved a challenge and wanted to push myself. Why! because I knew I could. I knew I would be one step ahead of everyone else in the “Real World” once I gained the knowledge and applied it. Why! because I am a DREAMER.
Challenge Your Mind…. I Dare You!
Excuse me… I am new to the University. I have never used email — can you show me how, please?
“Damn this email sucks! People keep messaging me, they won’t pick up their damn phone and want a response the same day. I hate this email crap!” words I can remember clear as day from my old man growing up in the 1990’s. At my house computers were looked at as a pain in the ass and nothing but a piece of plastic. My father was a face-to-face guy. As a salesman, he needed to see your face, hear your voice and feel your energy. This is what made him great. Needless to say that left the rest of us never really knowing what a computer was. There were no computers at the Murphy house during my childhood.
sure, I played around with the slow DOS Mac or PC in school back then. Playing Oregon Trail and loving every minute of it. Thinking this is the coolest thing ever. But, back then the computer was like an embryo in your mothers stomach. Just an idea trying to find its way into this world. Actual computers, as we know them today, didn’t really get going until the late 1990’s. At least that’s how I remember it. So, when the time came to pursue my college degree I realized really fast what a computer was — email was my fist real introduction.
I’ll never forget walking into the computer lab shortly after arriving to college. It was a shock getting back into school after 2 years off playing junior hockey in the USHL. It’s amazing how in just two years things had changed so fast. On my checklist of “To-Do’s” was, “Get your university email created and familiarize yourself with it.” Not having a computer of my own, I went down to the computer lab and got behind a computer. “I can figure this out. How hard can it be, really!” Standing there for 15 minutes, what seemed like 1hr, staring at the screen trying to figure out where to start. Which button am I supposed to hit. How does this work? Frustrated, but mostly feeling really stupid, I thought to myself, “I am probably the only one here that doesn’t have a clue how to create or open my email.” Then I looked around and observed everyone around me. The girl to my right was typing away on her email, while laughing. The dude to my left had his computer flashing like he was scrolling through a book from one page to the next. The help desk women way typing so fast is sounded like a machine gun. Realizing I might be the only dummy who can’t open a simple email I began to get a stomach ache, the cold sweats and anxiety started to set in. “I have no clue how to find, setup or use email. WOW! this is going to be a long road to get through college.” I remember saying to myself, standing there, as reality just hit me in the face.
Being the jock I was, I gathered my courage, walked up to the help desk and muttered words I will never forget, “Um, I don’t know how email works. I’ve never really used a computer. Could you help me?” I am not joking you when I say the help desk women looked at me with an expression of utter shock. Almost like she had seen a ghost. Yeah, that made me feel a lot better. NOT!
Failure Is The First Step To success
After figuring out email, realizing how simple it really was I began to explore the computer. I got my old man to dig in his wallet, like all college kids do (at the peak of their influence on mom & dad) and got my own. This is when the thought of becoming a computer programmer entered my mind.
You know when you buy a car… then you start seeing all the other people around you who have the same car? That’s what happened when I started thinking about computer programming. I started to find the people in that field, learned more research about what it entails and got really excited when I learned how much money MIS graduates where getting paid when they graduated. They were even getting $5,000-$10,000 signing bonuses. What!
I would be lying to you if the money wasn’t a big factor in my decision to become an Management Information Systems graduate. However, that was not my driving force. Deep down inside, that place where you have conversations with yourself. Like when you catch yourself talking out loud in the car… and you are the only one in it. Yeah, that place. I knew, deep down, I was a builder. I had an instinct and drive for creating things with my hands or my mind. I love the feeling you get when you start with nothing and leave behind a piece of yourself. I thrived on knowing and dreaming about what was possible. This is what computer programming gave me the ability to do. DREAM. Plus, I could build things that would help people.
No, I didn’t stutter… You heard right. After not knowing how to turn a computer on and get my email. I ended up graduating 4 years later with an MIS computer programming degree from the University of Wisconsin Eau-Claire.
I could tell you about all of the struggles, all nighters, stress and how many times I wanted to quit. I could even tell you about how I almost had a mental breakdown trying to juggle 3 MIS 300 & 400 level courses while at the same time taking finance and calculus (I hated calc — what do you need that for) along with playing college hockey. Sarah, now my wife, was there during this. She almost had a mental breakdown with me. “Murph, seriously! Why are you putting yourself through this… You know there is an easier way.”
Why! because I set a goal. Why! because I loved a challenge and wanted to push myself. Why! because I knew I could. I knew I would be one step ahead of everyone else in the “Real World” once I gained the knowledge and applied it. Why! because I am a DREAMER.
I believe anything is possible.
ANYTHING IS POSSIBLE WHEN YOU BELIEVE
Tim Murphy
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