Educational Background
In May 2003, I graduated from the University of North Texas with a Bachelor of Science from the department of Information Technology/Decision Systems in the College of Business. Some of my coursework included:
- Introduction to Database Applications
- Object-Oriented Methodologies
- Electronic Commerce Systems
- Administrative Problems in Information Systems
Professional Background
In early 2001, I found a Co-Operative position at the University of North Texas working in the Microcomputer Maintenance Shop, working as a Computer Technician where I built, tested, and delivered computers for various departments throughout the university. I learned a lot in regards to computer hardware and troubleshooting problems.
For the summers of 2001 and second half of 2003, I worked at Philmont Scout Ranch, a high adventure base for the Boy Scouts of America. Both summers I worked in the Conservation department, where I instructed and supervised participants in 3 hours of work in either trail building or fire rehabilitation. In this job, it helped refine my leadership and management skills. Additionally, for the first half of the summer of 2003, I was an Area Director at a local Boy Scout Summer Camp. My primary responsibilities included managing 3 employees under my direct supervision and overseeing the safety and well-being of the participants in a high adventure program centered around a 50-mile canoe trip over 4-½ days.
Following the Summer of 2001, I left the workforce in order to concentrate more heavily on my school work. In May of 2003, I graduated from the University of North Texas with Bachelor of Science in Information Technology from the UNT College of Business.
In November 2003, I was rehired by OmniAmerican Bank (now Southside Bank) as a 3rd Shift Computer Operator in the Information Technology Operations department. I quickly was able to learn the skills necessary to perform my job, and assisted with a core system conversion from Harland’s UltraData System to OpenSolutions Credit Union Solution that was started before my hiring in November and was completed in September of 2004. My primary responsibility within the system conversion was making test runs of the Batch Programs, which is vital to the Bank’s End-of-Day processing.
In August 2006, I was hired by Wal-Mart Stores Information System Division as a Computer Programmer. In August 2007, I was promoted to Advanced Programmer; in 2009 I was promoted to Programmer Analyst and in 2012 I was promoted to Senior Programmer Analyst. The area within ISD that I work in is Replenishment, which responsible for creating systematic orders for all stores in the US and abroad in both Wal-Mart and Sam’s Club. I work primarily in a host mainframe environment writing JCL and COBOL. I also work on programs written in SAS and CA-Easytrieve Plus.
From 2006 to 2013 I worked primarily within a support type role within the Replenishment system area. I worked on small to mid-sized efforts dealing with program, job, or batch flow run-time enhancements, bug fixes, and ad-hoc business customer requests. In May 2012 I was recognized as a Division Champion for a major enhancement that reduced the batch flow processing time by four to five hours allowing the flow to finish well within its service level agreement. I have also received numerous Associate of the Month recognitions during my tenure at Wal-Mart.
In February 2013 I moved to a new team within Wal-Mart ISD called Rapid Response. This team works on small to medium sized projects under 500 hours. I have had a chance to do more programming before in addition to leading multiple contractors with their projects. A benefit of working in this new team is that is has allowed me to work on projects dealing with other system areas such as Logistics and Sams Membership.
Extracurricular Activities
While in college, I was active in many different student organizations including the Student Government Association, Computer Information Systems Organization, a professional oriented organization where IT Professionals from local employers came in to discuss their trade, and the Residence Hall Association.
My current hobbies and activities include web development, primarily with this web-site. I have recently started to learn UNIX/Linux. I have created a Linux server running Centos 5, which I am using to test PHP scripts that I write with MySQL running on the back end.
In 2012 I started running and working out. Today I participate in races throughout the year in varying distances with the half marathon being the preferred distance. In May 2014 I ran my first full marathon, which taught me a lot about myself. I am currently studying to become a Personal Trainer. With that certification I hope to encourage and lead other people to lead a more healthy and active lifestyle.