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About Me — Mike Scarpiello
A life defined by adventure and not a 9–5 job
As far back as I can remember, I never wanted to be anything. Jerry Seinfeld and Bill Maher knew they wanted to be comedians when they were in their early teens. I also think it’s more common in the internet age to hone in on a career because you can easily look up job descriptions, companies, or get career advice at the click of a mouse. When I graduated with my Sports Management degree in the late 80s, I still didn’t have a clue what I wanted to do. I pretty much just worked at the job that was in front of me.
Jobs and career paths
After a brief stint in retail, I moved from Cleveland to Orlando and found a job in Data Processing. Data Processing is the term that would eventually become Information Technology, or IT. I worked on IBM mainframes and mounted reel-to-reel tapes on drives connected to the mainframe. Personal computers did not yet exist, and I am part of the last generation that mainly used what were known as “dumb terminals”, or CRTs. It was just a screen and a keyboard connected to the mainframe, and there was no email, internet, or anything else to use it for but work.
After three years in Orlando, I took a promotion and moved to Chicago. I continued with my Data Processing career at Trans Union — one of the three…