Cohort Stories: Meet Roland
vol. 2, no. 6— guest post by Roland Price
What excites me the most about technology is that I was born when technology first started to explode. I grew up seeing better and better hardware and software versions; the Internet became available to almost everybody and expanded networking and education beyond our wildest dreams. The industry just keeps getting faster and better.
I became interested in technology with my first introduction to computers. Growing up, my family did not own a computer, so my only access to that type of technology was through limited resources at my school, which mainly consisted of early editions of the Mac (1986 SE and Classic). Despite those brief moments, my interest in computers grew and eventually I began to work at Staples where I sold computers and software to various business owners and customers.
Flash forward about ten years — I am now serving in the U.S. Army. Since I am providing for myself, I now have access to a computer and the Internet on a regular basis. However, I am now juggling a full-time career and a family, so the pace of learning is slow going. It wasn’t until I started college that I learned about the digital divide. I realized that families from minority and/or low-income backgrounds are more likely to not have access to computers and the Internet, which means there is less awareness for pursuing education on such topics, as well as barriers to potential job opportunities that come with that education. I realized that the digital divide was real…it has been my life story so far!
During my time as a leader in the Army (my last posting was a Scout Platoon Sergeant), I often spoke to other leaders about how our primary job was to motivate our own soldiers and in doing so, it would cause us to forget about ourselves. We would forget what motivated us, the reason why we do what we do. I would often say that we need to find a way to motivate ourselves and each other as leaders.
In my opinion, Hack.Diversity is the fix for the digital divide. It gives those who didn’t grow up with lots of resources and access to a traditional career path — who otherwise would never have had a chance to learn, network and work in the career field of our choice — a chance to catch up and meet some of the greatest people in Boston, maybe the world. For that, I am eternally grateful. Motivation can be found almost anywhere and this opportunity has enabled me to find mine.
Eventually, I would like to work in IS Security and possibly web/software development. I feel that this is now a possibility for me.
