Where are you now?

I am currently working at Nutanix as Principal Technical Marketing Engineer joining with employee number 130 and the company now has over 4,000 employees. My road map for success has been hard work, having an "always learning mentality" and being positive. I would never describe myself as the smartest person in the room but I try to make it up in out working people. Being open to learn new things has opened new doors as being the expert in reality I am probably a course or text book away from the next person. I will also say 70% of your success will based on your people skills. No one wants to work with someone who is negative all the time. If you're going to disagree try to provide a solution to the answer. Also a great partner in life ,AKA the Boss (my wife) has freed up time for me to exceed.

Did you have any additional training or education after high school?

I took a two year diploma at Lakeland College in Computer Science and a Bachelor of Applied Science from NAIT.

How did Kitscoty High School prepare you for success?

Teachers were very supportive and made going to school fun. In junior high, Karen Harris even went out and procured a copy of Turbo Pascal, a programmer language to start me on my IT journey. Teachers showing up an hour before work and many hours after to help and volunteer was huge for me. Also for the size of the school you had access to so many programs and resources that not many other had in larger places.

Do you have a memorable staff member who you feel positively made a difference in your life?

I mentioned one already but there were lots for me. Larry Lee in grade 10 was my basketball coach. I don't think we touched a ball for most of the practices. We ran and ran and then ran some more. Hard work and overall fitness in practice lead to our team success. Larry was also very passionate about Physics which was one of my favorite classes.

Neil Williams was a math genius that made Calculus easy. He was also in his office early with his coffee thermos willing to help anytime. We also ran flag football which was a great way to start the year.

Mr. Wasylik provided so many skills that I wouldn't have had without him being there. Working with saws, drills and making something practical is not something that I got at home.

Terry King was a volleyball, basketball and running coach and my social studies teacher. Coming to open the gym at 8 am and allowing us to practice and have fun was a big reason of being happy in the mornings. There were others that helped with the gym in the morning too but it did make me want to come to school every single day.

There were countless others including support staff that made life great.