And here was the brief essay I submitted on Sept 4th, 2004 (exactly 20 years ago to the day) to be accepted into the Computer Information Systems Professional Program for Arizona State University. At the time, Amanda and I were living in Gilbert with her parents while we were waiting for our house to be built in Chandler. We had sold our previous house in Gilbert and completely missed the boat on renting it out and being able to sell it for far more as the real estate market was heating up. That was my fault as I didn't want to deal with renters and didn't have the stomach to be a landlord. As part of the submission I was required to detail my job history and I listed that I was an Order Processor/Bookkeeper for Ellis Woods.

The C.I.S. major would be a great boost to my goals of advancing in the computer industry. I currently work in an environment that monitors a credit card authorization system that supports over ten million transactions a day. This job requires UNIX skills and a thorough understanding of large-scale network infrastructures. While I enjoy the work I do, I am more interested in the job postings that I see at Vital for positions in database administration, programming/system analysis, and web development; professions that the C.I.S. degree program prepares its graduates for. With the chance of earning a C.I.S. degree which is ranked 17th in the nation by U.S. News and World Report, along with my job experience, I would be a very marketable candidate for the jobs listed above. Having a family to support, it is very important for me to place myself in the best position to succeed, and with the C.I.S. degree from W.P. Carey School of Business, I believe that puts me ahead of the competition.