But growing up in small-town Saskatchewan, I did not see many opportunities in the tech industry. Smartphones did not yet exist, and Facebook and Google were just fledgling websites.

So I did what I knew how to do to pay the bills and found work in the trades and building material industries.

It was good. It paid my debts but never left me feeling fulfilled at the end of the day. It was a job, but it never felt like a career. Working 55-60+ hours per week outside in all weather conditions. It also left me desiring a better work/life balance.

When the pandemic hit, I saw a shift to not only online learning, but remote working as well. Although my job was secure with the temporary increased demand from Do-it-yourselfers stuck at home. The increase in reliance on online services like Amazon, Twitch, and Zoom. The discovery of Open source projects like Glimesh where the community can contribute to the end product. And the advent of internet constellations like Starlink and One web laying groundwork for more demand to come, spurred me to begin my studies and invest my time in what I hoped to be my future.