A look into the life of a military spouse & network engineer. I met Sharyl through my social media platform. She, like myself, has a passion for network technologies. Her story captivated me because she has overcome so much to hang on to her own career as she has supported her husband, who often gets re-deployed. As a dutiful wife she and her kids have moved countries countless times. From Alaska to Tokyo and many other places, she has barely had time to root herself into a role before she's had to move on. Sharyl also realised that the industry is undergoing a huge transformation and she has been learning the skills needed to add value in the network space of the 21st Century: Cloud Networking! Despite challenges this strong lady is prevailing. The Essay shared below is written by Sharyl a few months back. I can happily share that she recently joined AWS as an Apprentice where she is learning a lot of really awesome stuff! I will let her tell her story in the hope that you will be inspired as I have been.
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Have you read Malcolm Gladwell’s book “Outliers?” The book discusses how talent and hard work is only a part of success. Luck, on the other hand, plays a huge part of it. This luck comes from external factors such as family upbringing, birthplace, birthdate, hidden opportunities, and many other factors. The book was far more interesting than what I expected it to be.
I was born and raised in the Philippines, where I earned a Bachelor’s Degree in Electronics and Communications Engineering. Afterwards, I had the opportunity to come to the United States. I was not aware, back then, about the challenges that a military spouse would face career-wise. I already had my own challenges as I navigated a new country and practiced my broken English.
At the time, the IT industry and networking was booming, especially VoIP. I got a job as an electronics technician at a university, where I got to work and gain experience with the physical layer of the OSI model, like pulling and terminating wires, learned the basic of installing analog phones on a 66 block, and learned about fiber optics and how to splice them. As I eagerly learned the technology and worked hard, I was promoted to the Lead Electronics Technician/Assistant Manager for the department. It was not easy learning the role of managing people. Back then, I had no idea what I was doing. Just as I settled for the job, my husband got orders for us to go overseas.
Being overseas was fun; I love to travel and experience different cultures, however career-wise, it was hard. Because I was limited to only working on-base, I struggled to find a job. Luckily, I was able to meet someone who was working from a US contractor on-base, which led me to working intensively with VOIP systems. This role had me extremely busy, traveling to different bases and maintaining our systems. But how to do you stay relevant in this field? I read once that you need to ride the waves. Meaning that since technology changes rapidly, learning has no end. You need to keep learning in order to stay competitive in this career field.
My passion for learning and technology is what drives me, fuels me to learn every day. I love solving problems and finding solutions for them. Network Engineering has been very exciting for me. I love fixing things, and when something went wrong with the VoIP system, I would stay late and figure things out. I try to fix things myself before consulting our senior engineers. I would always ask them questions if I didn't understand something, even if it’s not my job. I stayed with the company for 6 years. Then, our military life took us back to the US again.
There are many challenges for me as a woman and a military spouse trying to stay in this career field. However, there are others who do it very well and I always wonder how they do it. I feel like I start over again every time we move. I’m always fighting with impostor syndrome, and always wanting to quit and find a new career path, but I always navigate back to this field. I have to remind myself all the time that I don’t want to play victim to all these excuses anymore.
As I transition to the cloud computing space, with an employment and skills gap, finding a job is hard. I originally thought I need to start over again. However, with research, I finally realized that there are cloud areas that are network heavy, and that I can transfer some of my skills. I am currently studying for cloud certifications and, because of my networking background, I noticed that I grasped the concepts quickly. However, there are still so many areas that I need to learn in order to fill in the gap and to be competitive, such as programming languages, and Linux (system administration). Another challenge for me is networking. With me being an introvert, it’s hard for me to network socially. I was originally not a believer in networking. I used to believe that if you have the right skills and abilities, you will be able to apply and expect a call for an interview. But as I started researching and navigating the job market, looking for advice, looking for a mentor…all of them confirmed that networking and referrals are indeed important. This is the area that I need to work on the most.
So, based on The Outlier, I wondered what I could have accomplished if I didn’t come to the US. Would my career be different? What if we were not in the military and had stayed in one place? What if I didn’t bump into that person who introduced me to his boss, the reason why I was able to find work overseas? Am I lucky not to be in a place where I need to rush to find a job?
Sometimes, I wonder those things, but then I would always have the same answer. I wouldn’t change any of it. Besides, these challenges validate that you are doing something worthwhile and improving yourself. There are so many rewarding experiences that our family has gone through. We get a chance to travel the world and experience different cultures. I am here in the US, and with so many opportunities, I just have to keep looking. It may be challenging as I transition and find a new role in cloud computing, but I will keep fighting and not get discouraged. I will focus on the things that I can control to improve myself, and let go of the things that are out of my control…hoping that sometime soon that (hidden) opportunity will be revealed and luck will present itself.
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