Live and Learn…

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One of my nephews graduated high school about 2 years ago. Just like a lot of young kids, he wanted to start earning his keeps as soon as he finished high school. No amount of advice would make him change his mind so my brother let him find a job and work. One year into it, he had a change of heart. He discovered that getting just the minimum wage would not cut it to survive even if he’s still living at home so he now wants to go back to school. The only problem is…he really doesn’t know what he wants to take. He said that he wants take up something that won’t take long to finish and something that would make him marketable. He’s interested in computer work, networking etc so I sent him some links to the Chicago CCNA and the Virginia Cisco Course websites. He’s always on the computer anyway so I thought it would interest him to work in and around the computer if he gets certified. I have yet to hear what he thinks about it but I’m hoping he’d go that route.

Frankly, I didn’t know much about Cisco certification [or for that matter CCNA] until a friend who lives in California mentioned that her stepson is interested in taking San Diego CCNA. I think I’ve seen some ads about Virginia MCITP but I never really bothered to learn more about it until my brother asked for my help. My friend’s stepson was just like my nephew. He thought he could survive earning just the minimum wage. He had the rude awakening when his Dad decided that he either pay them rent or he find another place to live. He chose the latter and that’s when he probably realized that earning the minimum wage was not enough to make. I guess that’s the norm…live and learn. I’m just hoping these 2 young men will be able to finally find their niche so they can start living their lives independently.