about ~30 years experience. devops/architect now at a major university.

dropped out after almost 7 years w/4 degrees (math, cs, photography, archaeology). yes, i have adhd lol.

i've been programming/building computers since the early 80s, and worked at my unis computer lab help desk starting in the early 90s. after dropping out, got a lame sysadmin job and then somehow got a job at nasa ames in the late 90s (and moved to the bay area). after a short stint there, i was super lucky and hit the job marked right as the dot-com bubble 1.0 ramped up!

it was tough for the first few years as my lack of degree (and general jack-of-all-trades skillset) was definitely a barrier.

but with lots of luck, perseverance and track record of learning quick on the job, i was able to get a solid career rolling. i quit tech about 12 years ago, and have been working in higher ed tech since. now i get to sit in meetings and explain to CS/data science profs how the cloud actually works. :)