From: Can you work the phone? To: Linux Guru
I was 20, selling websites and avoiding school. Then a friend asked if I could help. I said yes. Shortly after my first course Adrian told me: “You’re teaching it next Monday.” Wait... what???
The year was 2001. I was 20, and the Y2K fever was so over.
By that time, I was getting all kinds of “What are you going to do with your life?”-type advice. You can pick them from a flipped top hat, trust me—they’re all interchangeable. Well-intended, maybe, but annoying for sure, at least to me.
How could they? I was already selling websites using a very clever business model. I was having fun and making some money... School? I didn’t need that, at least not right now. (Spoiler: I never did.)
In Mexico, it’s pretty common to come up with a business idea, test it, and see what happens. That’s what I was doing.
Anyhow, I think I was skating in San Agustín, Polanco—a skate park, if you are very generous in calling it that—in a nice area of Mexico City.
I got an SMS on my cheap polyphonic phone. It had a Nirvana ringtone, probably Come as You Are.
It was from a friend of mine, Adrian, whom I had met a couple of years earlier. We used to have LAN parties and play Age of Empires and Halo on Xbox.
He was a Systems Engineer with a mind I still draw inspiration from today. Adrian was an extremely important person in my life: a teacher, a friend, and my Halo co-op partner. I owe him so, so much. I send him love.
He was running a company that trained sysadmins in Red Hat Linux server management, implementation, and everything that came with it. If you’re in IT, you probably know the name.
The office was small but incredibly cozy, in an old house that I always claimed was haunted (Ahí espantan, we say.) The place was in La San Miguel Chapultepec, a beautiful neighborhood in Mexico City.
Their assistant had unexpectedly quit, and they needed someone who could handle the phone. I had worked for a couple of months in a call center for US Airways, which was a terrible experience... I lasted less than two months there.
Working the phone was not something I wanted to do again, but of course, I wanted to help.
Then Adrian spiced things up by adding:
“You can attend the Linux courses while you’re working.”
My counterpart in this operation was the Linux master: Joel Barrios, who ran the well-known forum LinuxParaTodos.net.
“Also, you can make some extra money writing posts for the forum.”
Sign me up, my good sir.
Shortly after, when I had almost two complete server-admin courses under my belt... Panic! Joel was out of the company. It was a Tuesday afternoon. Adrian called me into his office and explained the situation:
“We have an already-booked course next Monday, and I need you to teach it.”
Wait... what???
We spent the following days and nights practicing all the topics. I even remember the planning around it. I tell you, it was crazy!
There was so much to cover, and I had only attended two half-baked versions of the course myself. But I have always thought of myself as someone who likes challenges, so...
Chingue su madre. (Roughly translates to: “Fuck it.”)
The course went great. If you want to do it, get it done. That’s it.
I’ll add an image of the course topics, if you’re wondering why all the fuss...
There’s a really funny situation that I can’t help but tell:
On the first day of the course, I was waiting in the classroom when the five Systems Engineers enrolled in the course walked in.
I said good morning to them.
They replied:
“And... where’s the teacher?”
“I’m the teacher.”
It was awkward, but incredibly funny.
I will never forget that first course. When it was over, the guys told me they weren’t sure whether this “kid” could teach them Linux. They know better by now.
Thank you, Gen 1, for the patience, the laughs, and the support. You were fundamental to who I am today.
I recommend reading next: The big dream advertising job!
Hooked? Keep digging: https://oscar-azpeitia.com/tag/career/
