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An excerpt from Phuc's winning essay:
Even though I got four A's in four CCNA short-term classes in Pasadena City College, I still have a big problem with practice skills in Lab. Networking Technology in particular and technology, in general, requires the students spend much time on practicing with Routers and Switches in order to master and memorize the technological procedures. The practicing hours in the Lab (only 4 hours a week) are insufficient. Most of my classmates who are now working can afford to buy some used Routers and Switches from E-bay to practice at home but I am still a first-year student who just immigrated to the US with no income.
Therefore, if I am lucky to win a Straight Forward Media Vocational-Technical School Scholarship, my first action will be to buy two used routers and one switch to practice what I have learned. Thanks to practice, I strongly believe that I will soon master the practical skills to configure, operate and troubleshoot these machines and I will pass the CCNA examination to get the Cisco Certified Network Associate (CCNA) Certificate which is the prerequisite for my next class (CCNP) and hopefully I can be able to find a part-time job to have some money to lead my living more comfortably than now.
Nowadays, the ever-changing speed of high technology, especially in the so-called "Information Age", plus the globally severe competitions between countries or between companies in economy and technology, make the demand of a well-trained high-tech workforce higher and higher. As a newly immigrated Asian in the United States two years ago, I personally realize that US vocational/technical education system, especially the major of Communication and Information Technology (CIT), will certainly play a key role for my success in this new life as well as for the improvement of the community or society around me for the following reasons. First, the United States can not maintain its role as a world-leading superpower nation without the well-trained, professional hi-tech scientists, engineers and also technicians. Each of these groups will take charge of a specific sector of science and technology. More specifically, the high-educated scientists will take responsible of conducting many theoretical researches to apply them to daily life, the university-level engineers will creatively design new technological models and last but not least, the technicians, who graduate from US vocational/technical education system, will be responsible for these scientific and technological applications to be deployed, installed and working smoothly. Those technicians will also be an eligible and qualified substitute for a large number of those who retire every year, especially in some industries which can not hire the foreign workers for the national security and technological know-how secrets such as governmental and high-tech companies.
What is more, if there were only scientists and engineers who graduate from the universities in the US society, who would do the installation, operation, maintenance, and troubleshooting the machines or systems in operation? This real situation is a headache-causing problem in many Asian countries where the university degree is considered as the summit hope of most young persons and their parents due to the deeply-rooted social view that puts emphasis on the academic distinction; therefore the shortage of professional technicians become more and more serious in these countries whereas the number of engineers who lack the practical skills to operate and maintain machines is very high.
Second, when taking into consideration my strong points (such as hard studying/working attitudes as well as my special long-term interest in electronics technology) and my weak points (such as my late arrival in the US in my middle age, along with my limited ability in speaking and listening English skills), I find it very difficult to choose such other
majors as lawyer, doctor or business manager even though these careers used to be of my big interests since a child. In other words, I have to choose the practical and optimal option to gain a success for my life which is to become a CIT (Communication and Information Technology)
technician. Communication and Information Technology (CIT) has long proved its important presence and deeper and deeper penetration in every aspect of our life from children toys to many sophisticated medical machines in hospitals and even to space exploring technology as well. Especially for the majority of the third-world countries, CIT has been chosen as the shortest and quickest method to make them become an industrialized country. With these in mind, many people, including myself, decide to devote themselves in this challenging but interesting
technology in the hope that they can succeed in their career and have a better life thanks to its predominance and its wide applications in human life. Besides their hope of individual success, those who major in the CIT, also contribute their parts in improving their community’s
development by doing their best to offer the best services for the customers, or taking active part in many community-oriented activities which more or less need their technological skills.
In spite of the current less attractiveness of technological majors and jobs due to seemingly increasing outsourcing policies of many American companies as well as the severe competitions of the other countries such as Russia, India, China, and others), many students, including me,
are still interested in CIT. They do not give up their hope of a brighter prospect for this technology (CIT) so they are consistent with their chosen career path. For example, at Pasadena City College, many students, including me, are enrolling in the CCNA (Cisco Certified
Network Associate) program which includes 4 short-term classes lasting within only one year but the education is very excellent in terms of teaching quality, academic textbook and online materials. These students strongly believe that the Internet and Networking Technology will soon take its leading role again in the near future when the economic success relies more and more heavily on technology and its applications. Therefore we are studying very hard for our future success as well as for the prosperity of the US society and economy. As for me, despite my first year in the US college, I get four A-grade (over 95%) for all four CCNA classes and I am going to register for CCNP (Cisco Certified Network Professional) program as well as have a step-by-step plan to take such classes as Windows NT Server, Windows NT Workstation, Web
Design, E-Commerce, Network Security and IP Telephone Technology to build up my knowledge in the CIT technology.
In conclusion, the vocational/technical education system has been playing an extremely important role in the success and improvement of both individuals and community or society, especially for the new and middle-aged immigrant like me. Without the technicians, the US economy will become less developed and competitive, leading to the suffering from the technological and economical dependence on foreign countries in the future. This is a real tragedy for every individuals as well as community.
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