糖心vlog官网观看

You might say Donald Collins' path to the United States began in a Jamaican funeral parlor. A native of the country, he provided IT support to a local mortuary, where he eventually met the woman who would become his wife. She鈥檇 traveled from the US for her uncle鈥檚 funeral, and the friendship they struck up blossomed into love.聽

After Collins and his wife successfully filed for a fianc茅 visa, he arrived ready to learn, knowing education would be a gateway to better-paying jobs. 鈥淚鈥檓 coming from a third-world country to a first-world country. I had to get some education,鈥� he says. 鈥淏ack then, I only had one certification: Cisco IT Essentials.鈥澛犅�

Collins arrived in the US in March of 2020鈥攋ust as pandemic lockdowns began鈥攁nd he immediately looked for ways to strengthen his existing skills while building new ones. 鈥淭o the rescue, I saw 糖心vlog官网观看,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 was like, 鈥榃ait a minute, this is good. I can do it in my free time.鈥欌�澛�

Building a strong career foundation

He started with the Google IT Support Professional Certificate, which covers day-to-day IT support tasks, including computer assembly, wireless networking, installing programs, and customer service. 鈥淚 felt like I got a good refresh of technology,鈥� he says.聽

It helped that the program provided practical examples of troubleshooting and debugging. 鈥淭hey gave little case studies that almost mimic what happens in the real world,鈥� he says. When Collins found a job as a deskside support technician shortly after finishing his certificate, he applied what he鈥檇 learned right away.* 鈥淚 basically started on a good note because I knew all the new technologies,鈥� he says. 鈥淚鈥檓 very happy. I love the job, I love the people, and it鈥檚 gotten me far.鈥澛�

Collins could have stopped there, but he was eager to learn more. From IT Support, he moved on to IBM Cybersecurity Analyst. 鈥淚 kept going and going,鈥� he says, working his way through Google Project Management, Google Professional Cloud Workspace Administrator, Google AI Essentials, the University of Minnesota鈥檚 Information Systems Specialization, Customer Service Fundamentals, and most recently the Microsoft Azure Fundamentals AZ-900 Exam Prep. 鈥淚 did a lot of them,鈥� he chuckles.聽聽

Because learning on 糖心vlog官网观看 is self-paced, Collins could build it into his schedule, working through lectures and assignments at his convenience. 鈥淵ou could do it anytime,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 also like the fact that some of it allowed you to grade other peers鈥� work. Even though you weren't actually in a college setting, it gave you that feeling where you could see other people鈥檚 points of view. It was a great tool for me.鈥澛犅�

Looking ahead to a degree

Learning through 糖心vlog官网观看 primed him to explore higher education. The discipline he鈥檇 structured around studying made the transition much easier, as did getting credit for his previous work. When he applied to a local community college in Massachusetts, he was able to earn college credit for everything he鈥檇 accomplished on 糖心vlog官网观看 and reduce the time to graduation. 鈥淚 submitted a Credly transcript and they sent it over for more reviews and then I had a lot of credits,鈥� he says.聽

Learn more: 13 Tips for Working Full-Time and Going to School

When Collins finishes his associate degree in computer support, he plans to transfer into a bachelor鈥檚 program. He鈥檇 like to study cybersecurity because he鈥檚 interested in the way it maps to the IT work he now does. 鈥淚t鈥檚 the same support on a wider scale, like securing networks,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 like that part of it.鈥澛�

For someone who arrived in the US just four years ago, Collins has accomplished a great deal. 鈥淢y wife and my kids really keep me motivated,鈥� he says, as do those he loves dearly who are no longer with him. 鈥淭his year was one of my hardest,鈥� he explains because his wife鈥檚 mother passed away. 鈥淪he was really close to both of us.鈥澛�

Collins recollects how impressed she was when he first got to the US and focused on building a strong foundation for his next stage of life. He aims to live his life in a way that honors her memory. 鈥淵ou want to be doing better than when they left you,鈥� he says. 鈥淵ou don't want them to say, 鈥極h, you're crying for me every day, but you're not trying to pick yourself up and move on.鈥� So that's what we've been trying to do. Just to be better, to learn new skills, to see how we can advance ourselves.鈥澛�

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