I totally get when people want to know more about the person behind the business (not the mask). I personally prefer to see someone face-to-face to get a proper judgement of someone’s character and personality! So, when you’re looking to have a website built for your organisation, you want to make sure you’re not dealing with a psychopath but instead with a kind, pro-active, professional, determined individual striving to promote your business. Read on to learn more about me, TCQC:
I look back at my time spent on education after leaving high school with a fascination in computing. I spent the majority of my college life at City College, Norwich where I began with a year of First Diploma in IT course (2007-2008). During this time I met some amazing lecturers, friends as well as indulging in many assignments and improving my computing encyclopaedia.
Immediately after my first course, I enrolled on a two year National Diploma for IT Practitioners course (2008-2010) which was way more advanced and challenging ranging from networking to website design (this is where the interest began). Many more great lecturers and people met and networked alongside (it’ll never be the same!) and a host of hands-on experience and skills acquired. I always say my college years were the best days of my life; I didn’t enjoy high school that much… but not many did. School was a place you had to attend, college was a place you chose to be in, in your chosen subject keen to expand your knowledge and reel in the rewards later in life.
So here I am, already 3 years into college with my social confidence growing as well as that encyclopaedia mind of mine, and the real world of businesses outside were struggling and not coping after a financial recession. During the National Diploma course, I researched educational degrees and how significant they are and how impressive they look to potential employers … so it was then I was determined to acquire a degree to my name. Now, this isn’t no picnic obviously, and would require another 3 years of my educational life but at the time I knew it was worth it. Another thing that drove me was the fact my mum studied for a degree when I was around 13/14 years old taking evening classes and juggling myself, my then 8(ish) year old sister and my then new-born(ish) sister and a brilliant Labrador named Jess (RIP girl) … so she was pretty inspirational achieving that; I’m not saying we were horrendous kids, we were just… kids needing looking after. Shoutout to my mum Alison!
But anyway, I enrolled immediately onto a Foundation Degree in Business and Computing (abbreviating to FD) which was a two year course (2010-2012) and was provided by the University of East Anglia [Norwich]. We got a cool UEA access card, and this course was mandatory before taking the ‘full’ one year degree course and achieving greatness. Challenging wasn’t the word for the FD course for myself and my awesome classmates. Everything I had learned up until this date was meniscal compared but hey, it broadened the mind and expertise immensely.
Two years flew by, and it was time for the big one, the BSc (Hons) Degree in Business and Computing (2012-2013). The only haunting thing throughout it that we didn’t really touch until just after Christmas was: the dissertation. A 7000+ worded assignment on a chosen question/topic. My question/topic was funnily enough based on website design, who’d have thought? I went in depth immensely for months composing research via Google eBooks and actual library books, eventually burning out my fingers typing and clouding up my contact lenses. One thing I will miss, is the social side with classmates and lecturers, as well as broadening (there’s that word again) my mind. One thing I won’t miss? Harvard Referencing… if you know, you know. If you don’t, Google what is required with Harvard Referencing and then feel our pain.
Time to reminisce about this one project we had during semester one in the degree year: myself, my best friends/classmates Mike, Jack and Jamie and Chris(?) (memory is hazy, we’re talking 11 or so years) were in our Entreprenauship class and we were to come up with a product and design a catchy pitch ‘Dragon’s Den’ style. It was a load of fun, mainly thinking of ideas and laughing them off because they’d be ridiculous (cough, toilet guard, cough). We eventually came up with Tag-a-saurus, a product that prevented losing personal belongings such as car keys or your child; basically it attached a tag to the said device/human and then the customer would be able to find it via your mobile phone. We loved the project, it was loads of fun and I hope you enjoy our logo for it shown below, a dinosaur with “perfectly” Photoshopped keys and a phone in its claws… yep.
Leaving college after 6 years, four courses, hundreds of friends gained as well as crucial knowledge and skills acquired, going into the real world was daunting, but I was excited too. I was lucky to find my first job a couple months after graduating. I first started with a month of unpaid work experience at a high school in Methwold, Norfolk: Iceni Academy. I was classed as an IT technician covering various ICT suites and the general running of software, hardware and issues that arise alongside my boss/colleague Garry. I had the best of times there increasing my knowledge and making so many friends with the staff. My kind and willing approach seems to win over a lot of people, and the fact that even though I know the technical side of computing, this doesn’t mean individuals who encounter issues know too – so my trait is to fix the issue (as technical as they get) but explain in the most basic terms and explanations to the user/staff member and basically not to ‘show off’ with the technical garble… and then end with a smile or a bit of small talk about something non-IT.
Months passed and I was lucky to be offered an interview for a permanent paid IT technical position at the school… which I obviously took! Now, I hate interviews, but with days and hours of prep and rehearsing, I ‘nailed it’. I said all the right things, performed the hands-on tasks to perfection and they “overwhelmingly” went with myself… I was chuffed! Years went by with various Christmas parties and sports days managing the sound system on those hot summer days (and running the 100m staff race) throughly enjoying my time. Enjoy a photo of one of our Christmas staff Santa runs!
Being the person I am, I always want to progress and expand my knowledge, so when the opportunity was there, I decided to go for it: Notre Dame High School IT Services Engineer (2015-2019). A bigger school, higher salary and more hours which, let’s be honest, is what we all thrive towards. I loved every moment of my time at Notre Dame High School and learnt “everything” the job offered. From hardware fixes to software installs. I was given the special duty of designing and implementing two school websites needed as my employers knew my website design interest and wanted to use that to build the websites in question. A lot of staff bleep tests and school sports’ days and Christmas dinners later I had gained a vast knowledge and expertise as well as confidence through my time at NDHS. I still miss the place to this day and still regularly attend staff indoor football on a Friday afternoon!
Again, I’m the type of person to increase my mind and expertise, so an opportunity to work for Norfolk County Council arose, as an IT [IMT] technician. This is the peak of the IT technician role in my eyes, covering all parts of Norfolk institutes whether that’s a council chamber at County Hall, Norwich with important councillors or an Independence Matters setup in Kings Lynn specialising in assisting individuals who are living on their own from unfortunate circumstances. This job is challenging but immensely rewarding at the same time mainly due to the fact that I love problem-solving and helping others in the process. From travelling around Norfolk to remote support (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic… a whole year and more working from home!), the job ranges greatly and I thoroughly enjoy every minute.
Well that felt like a dissertation itself, but I hope you understand that I want to be as honest and personal to you as I want you to be to me when we communicate and hopefully design your website. To present, my love for designing, implementing as well as maintaining websites is strong to this day and always has been a dream of mine!
If you have any questions or want to contact to begin our website project together, then contact me via my contact form
