User:Miguel Hernandez

The account of this former contributor was not re-activated after the server upgrade of March 2022.

I grew up in Los Angeles, CA & attended Verbum Dei H.S. (played various sports, participated in clubs & student government, etc). I then headed off to the University of Southern California in 1991 (you best believe I'm a proud Trojan). I started off as a pre-Business major but switched to Gerontology as I'd worked with the Spanish-Speaking Alzheimer's Disease Research Project. I was also quite active there, being a member of various organizations (RSLH, LBSA, MeCHA)& clubs as well as playing some sports. Besides SSADRP, I also worked for the Center for Multi-Ethnic & Transnational Studies (CMTS), International Business Education And Research (IBEAR) program and for Creative Artists Agency (CAA).

Ironically enough, I've never utilized my Gerontological educational skills in the workforce (outside of USC). My first job out of college was as a Marketing Assistant for AltaMed Health Services (I also interned there while at USC). I was then a Database Manager for the United Way and that's where my non-profit experience ended. I'd always loved computers since buying my first one in 1993 & was very curious about them & their inner-workings. I landed my first "tech job" as a QA Engineer for Encore Software early in 1999. By the end of the year, I'd used my experience to springboard me to a similar role at a startup called Storactive. Again, using the experience & knowledge I'd garnered, I landed a great job with Ticketmaster.com (also in QA). I took some time off to de-stress & eventually received my first "contractor gig" where I also did QA for RFP Express. I've always loved QA but wanted to try something new and challenging so I was fortunate enough to be the I.T. Manager & Webmaster for Congress Cosmetic. I've again taken some time off to do some traveling and re-prioritize my goals. As you can see, I've always worked a lot and my background is quite diverse.

I'm very passionate about the open-source movement that's such a buzz right now. I've had experience with Linux/Unix going as far back as 1994. I enjoy "giving back" where kids, literacy & older adults are concerned & have done so for over 15 years. My other hobbies are writing, dancing, music creation/production, hanging out with friends & anything "techy."