A Former Dj's Mixtape of Life Experiences

by: Angela Munoz

As an undergraduate, back before 2007 and before the Great Recession, I was a bold, ambitious, and enthusiastic student hoping to graduate with my Bachelor of Arts degree in Mass Communications and make my way in the world.

As a student, I worked three different jobs to be able to afford my apartment. I worked at the campus radio station at the earliest shift at five a.m. since the other shifts were taken, also as a deejay at the local radio station, as a deejay at the local pool hall, and as a dressing room assistant. This was not a problem since I had already been working steadily since I was 15 as a Bell South payment agent, Western Union clerk, UPS Shipper, RadioShack clerk, and English tutor.

At that time, I honestly thought that my life could only get better from there, and I would soon begin a successful career in Public Relations and move to Atlanta to travel and enjoy watching the sunset and traffic from a rooftop view. I had always hoped that after I worked in the field for a few years, I would one day teach Public Relations as a college professor. I distinctly remember telling my entire family this and they laughed and said I would work in a factory or join the military just like the rest of them. Unfortunately, on graduation day, my professors also laughed at the ridiculousness of wishing us well, when there wouldn’t be any jobs because of the news of the coming recession.

They were completely right, and six months after completing the requirements for my internship I was laid off without any prospects of finding another job in Public Relations since this is rural Georgia and even permanent positions were disappearing. I moved back home with my parents and found work with a local photography shop that agreed to further develop my skills in Adobe Photoshop since I had picked it up while building the PR website for Swainsboro Technical College in Public Relations. During that time, I met my husband, and I eventually took a job with the local radio station as a morning talk show host, deejay, marketing assistant, and sales account manager that allowed me to travel back and forth from Dublin, Georgia. You sometimes have to wear a lot of hats in a small town!

There weren’t many sales to be made during those tight times, but I did learn about the new digital radio programming and how to schedule advertising slots into the system, as well as how to properly kick the receiver when it would freeze under the trailer we were located in. Because sales were so slow, the radio station ended up cutting my pay and offering me fewer hours, so I searched for work at East Georgia College, where I first began my college career.

I found a position as a Library Associate where I was able to use my technical skills to develop an online inventory and improve the patron account overdue fine procedures. In this position, I had steady pay, benefits, and very long hours sometimes from 10-12 hours a day and an hour and a half commute from our new apartment in Dublin, Georgia. I worked these long hours with humble gratitude knowing that there were no other jobs available that made the same pay and included benefits, so we did what all young, dumb, and broke people do, we decided to have our first child.

I knew absolutely nothing about pregnancy or babies, but that seemed like the next step for us, and it was a terrible idea. I was working 10–12-hour shifts and driving almost two hours back and forth each day up until a few days before my due date. I was supposed to be on leave, but I was afraid they would not keep my position if I left early, so I also went back to work after only two weeks. After my son was born, he was always asleep when I returned home and my husband was exhausted from being an only parent, so I decided that I had to find a job in Dublin, Georgia.

On a whim and with no options left, I decided to apply to Meds by Mail through the VA in Dublin, Georgia and a few weeks later they hired me, but only because I could speak Spanish and they liked that I could speak English clearly as well. The position was difficult, fast-paced, and grueling work where they did not care whether I had a degree. The pay and benefits were excellent, the work became easier, and I became a bit of an advocate for using technology to make call center employees work easier and faster, and I settled in for the next few years. We had another baby boy, and I began working steadily to make improvements, collaborate, train others, and take on more duties than were expected for the position.

After successfully training new pharmacy technicians in the various technical processes related to my work, the pharmacy began to replace the call center staff. After a year, they had also replaced the Spanish Translators with the relay call service. I decided to inquire about other positions that might be available, and I was strictly told that I had no chance of moving up since I was neither a pharmacy technician nor a pharmacist. I was crushed, so I decided that I would make a drastic career change.

There were still no available positions in Public Relations after almost 10 years, and I had already completed at least 20 different resume formats and applied to at least 24 different positions at the VA with no response, so I applied for the degree in Technical and Professional Writing. At this point, I had hoped that I could work as a professor if I only had a master’s degree, but it seemed that everyone in the program was also hoping to do the same thing and my advisor said that this would not be possible with that type of degree, so I was stuck again.

While I was taking the Human and Computer Interaction course, which was an entry-level requirement for the program, I fell in love with the coursework and decided again on a whim and a lack of other options, to switch to the master’s in Information Technology instead. In the Information Technology courses, I had finally found my path and purpose! The coursework was challenging, and I greatly enjoyed the research, leadership, and project management aspects of the course. In many ways I imagined myself working in a technical field, or my own business and how I would make decisions for my employees or upper management.

During the day I worked as a mere call center representative, but after work, I was the CIO of my career, and I took it very seriously. During my time at MGA, several of my professors asked if I would be willing to teach IT, and I was thrilled that they would think of me for such a task. This was my solemn dream to become a college professor, especially in a dynamic and compelling subject like IT, and about a year after I took my first IT course with MGA in Human and Computer Interaction, I was teaching it! I knew that I wanted more deep knowledge of cybersecurity, privacy issues, infrastructure, design thinking strategies, and project management, and I applied for the doctorate program knowing that this would take me to the next level in my career as a professor of IT. I see myself designing coursework, lecturing, giving presentations, and providing valuable research in various IT courses with enthusiasm, creativity, and compassion. Most importantly I see myself guiding students through difficult times, because, like me, they may not have had the resources, support, and guidance that I so needed in my early college years.

So, who am I as a student and professional? I’m not entirely sure there is a simple answer for that, it seems I’ve always been a compilation of best hits, sad songs, and a love story somewhere in there on my mixtape of educational and professional evolution. My goals are somewhat less rigid than before, and I’m reminded that I should be stubborn about my goals but flexible with my methods, as this is the resounding soundtrack of my life’s experience. What I do know is that I have forgiven the past circumstances, and I am loyal to my future, whatever it may hold. For now, I have two jobs that I am thankful for, a family that loves me, a purpose and calling to teach IT, and the opportunity to earn a doctorate degree in IT so that can become a reality.