The Beginning

Welcome to my blog. Admittedly, this is my first blog, but I figured it was time to embrace one of the more recent advancements on the internet and give it a try.

The focus of this blog will be on the professional side of my life. Currently, I'm a student at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin. This fall is the first semester of my two year degree, which is in the Computer Programmer/Analyst program.

Computers have always been a central focus for me and a source of great entertainment and education. I can remember back to when I was probably 9 or 10 years old. My cousin had a computer in his house, which was pretty unheard of at the time, especially in our area. He showed me how there was a programming language on the computer, called BASIC, which allowed you to write a program and then run it. Granted our programs were simple, but in short, you could make the computer do what you wanted! I was very taken by that idea and it left a long lasting impression on me.

In high school, I finally got to have a formal class on the BASIC language, which I really enjoyed. A few years later, I was at UW-Madison in a 4 year program earning my bachelor's degree in Accounting. I had the opportunity to take another programming class and the language taught at the time was Pascal. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the class and was thrilled at the possibilities of what one could do on a computer. I briefly considered changing my major after that class to Computer Science.

After college, I earned my Certified Public Accountant license. I've always enjoyed numbers and received a rewarding feeling for keeping things in balance from an Accounting perspective. However, over the 15 years I spent as an Accountant, I always thought back to those days I considered changing my major at the UW. I tried to get my programming or computer "fix" by getting into the more technical side of accounting. Things such as Financial Reporting, databases and most of all, Excel spreadsheets. I learned everything I could about Excel in seminars, but it wasn't enough. I felt the need to do more.

Over the years I taught myself Visual Basic for Applications at a basic level. In 2008, I created Endres Data Solutions, LLC to provide Excel services to my customers. Endres Data Solutions, LLC was intended at first to be a side business with the hopes of things taking off and some day becoming a full time job.

Early in 2009, I received notice that I would be laid off in the fall. As usual, my thoughts drifted back to being a computer programmer. I finally made the decision to go back to school and earn that degree. I must add, that I received tremendous support and encouragement from my wife on this and couldn't have done it without her.

Changing careers will most likely be putting an end to Endres Data Solutions, LLC, but in the end it is for the best. Instead of getting my computer "fix" as a side business, I get to do it full time. This is what I've truly always wanted.

So here I am, in my first semester at MATC. Every day I am thankful I made the decision to do this. I'm loving the classes. The homework has sure picked up, but it is definitely worth it.

My initial plan with this blog is to make regular updates regarding school and other things related to my career change. I hope you keep reading as I keep learning and discovering new things.

Thanks for reading!