Change of Hats

First, I will get the obvious out of the way. This topic has nothing to do with snadam's avatar. It is my IT hat that I now will be hanging up.

I wanted to apologize about not being around much for the past 2-3 months. I am a Roman Catholic and actually began the application process to enter the Seminary this fall. After a two month application process I just found out last Thursday that I have been accepted and will now begin an 8 year discernment process with the possibility of ending with Ordination as a Priest. I will be both a full time seminarian and full time student taking classes both at Saint Paul's Seminary (where I will be living now) and at Duquesne University in Pittsburgh.

I haven't been around as much or actively pursuing my certifications since I have had a lot of different IT and other projects to finish up and try to bring to close (still have a lot to do over the next two weeks including selling most of my stuff). When I started this process I just finished studying for my CEH exam and felt confident I could pass but couldn't justify spending the money to find out at that point. I was just about to finish my process of transitioning from Database to Information Security Consulting when I made this switch. I have enjoyed working in IT very much, but need to respond to God's call that I recognize in my life.

I likely won't have the time or ability to stop by these boards anymore once I enter the Seminary. I really enjoyed coming in throughout the day and staying up to date with the most recent posts even if I didn't have time to respond myself (plus I tend to spend too much time with long elaborate responses).

I at least wanted to say goodbye to everyone and make mention of the tremendous help that these boards are to people pursuing certification or just looking to enhance their own knowledge. There are some highly skilled people here in many different areas willing to offer their help and that do so on a regular basis. It is a very positive and honest community and the only IT certification board I have seen so far with such a strong stance against the malicous ways of passing certification exams (what initially attracted me). The amount of time this site has been operating and the excellent free resources found in the technotes have really made a difference for many people looking to obtain certification. I definitely wanted to thank Johan for providing it and the moderator's for helping to keep things clean and civil.

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Comments

darkerosxx

Good luck to you

ladiesman217

I have to say that you've been my favorite TE contributor.

http://techexams.net/forums/viewtopic.php?t=34155&postdays=0&postorder=asc&start=50

It's sad to hear you're parting away from this forum. I'm also a Roman Catholic and I salute you.

We will miss those knowledgeable post.

good luck!

vCole

Good luck to you!

Megadeth4168

Good Luck to you!
You have a lot of work ahead of you! Our parish had to cluster with 2 others because there just are not enough priests.

undomiel

Have fun in seminary, and may God bless you and guide you in your life!

jworley

While I am not Roman Catholic, it is refreshing to see someone staying true to their convictions. I hope things work out the best for you.

dynamik

I was actually thinking about sending you a PM to see what you've been up to. Then I saw a few of your other posts today and thought you were back. THEN, I stumbled upon this one. Way to get my hopes up just to let me down

I have thoroughly enjoyed and appreciated all the insight that you've shared with us, and I will definitely miss those long elaborate responses. This is a huge loss for these forums. However, it sounds like you have more important work to do, so I guess I can't be too bitter about it

That sounds like quite an endeavor and you have my best wishes. I understand that you can't keep up with the day-to-day shenanigans around here, but you should definitely post an annual update or add something to the exercises threads once in awhile

I do laugh when I think about your church though. Most of them are pretty weak in terms of IT security, but yours is going to be on par with a government agency

Well, I managed to work in a nice range of emoticons, so I think I'm done. Good luck

snadam

IT takes a back seat to life. As a fellow catholic, I respect your decision. It is a very admirable thing you are doing. It was an honor to even though it was only on the boards. God Bless and best of luck; and thanks for mentioning my hat

don't be afraid to sign in and let us know how things went after its all said and done!!!

jetdynamics

Goodluck I know you can feel that call when you decided to enter to seminary.

shednik

Schluep,
I'm glad to hear you made it in and was beginning to wonder what happened with your decision. I wish you the best in your path in the seminary and will miss those long elaborate responses to questions. Let me know where you do end up once ordained, I'm sure you'll be good for some long informative sermons during mass.

supertechCETma

doesn't that involve a change of collar, as well?

aueddonline

I gotta say I find it a funny chose of life with the church, but good luck to you man, if my local priest was a CEH I'd be there on my knees

seuss_ssues

Im sad to see you go but also very happy for you. Congratulations and God bless.

RussS

All the best Schluep - may your plans come to fuition.

On the lighter side .... shamje you are not a CEH .... Would have been interesting to see if you could hack the system and get a non believer like me into the afterlife

Plantwiz

Best wishes!

dps

God Bless you Schluep and good luck!
Wish you'd visit us here from time to time.

Ahriakin

Best of luck and respect for having the courage to follow your heart, or soul..whichever way you want to look at it. You'll be missed....

astorrs

Best of luck to you in all your future endeavors, godly or otherwise.

Sie

Best of luck to you.

Many thanks for all your contributions to this site and our studies.

All the best in the future!

sprkymrk

Sorry to see you go Schluep. Hope you get a chance to read all these well wishes before you go. If you drop me your email via PM I'd like to keep in touch from time to time.

Mark

Lee H

Good luck Schluep

Your advice and opinions were well written and much appreciated

Lee H

Schluep

Thanks everyone. I appreciate all of the support and got a good laugh out of some of the comical responses to this thread. I will definitely stop by from time to time when I get a chance. You may only see me every few weeks or months though instead of on a daily basis as was the case before. I'll certainly keep you all updated on how things are going.

Typically those preparing for Diocesan Priesthood recieve some type of work assignment over the summer so I have a feeling they may have me working in some capacity on the computers for various Parishes in the Diocese or a similar capacity within the Diocese. Come next summer I may be asking questions trying to refresh information not used for over a year. Although they may also find something entirely unrelated to computers for me to be doing. I definitely won't be actively pursuing any further certifications either way, but would like to put my skills to use if possible. As much as I enjoy working with computers I recognize God's call in my life and feel it is my responsibility to respond. I have no second thoughts at all and do not even feel like I had a decision to make once I recognized that call. I will continue to discern with the Church for the next 8 years to ensure this is truly what I am being called to do.

Sorry for the roller coaster Andrew. I didn't mean to get your hopes up, just saw two threads I couldn't resist commenting on. The exercise thread is one I look forward to seeing again when I do make it on here.

On a side note, if anyone is looking to buy a 2006 Toyota Corolla (Silver/full sport package) with almost 24,000 miles send me a PM. No point trying to pay insurance, maintenance, inspections, emission, and registration fees for 8 years while it depreciates with me at the Seminary having no income anyway.

KGhaleon

Sorry.

I'm sure the IT world could still use you though. It's never too late to reconsider. Think of all the things you'll lose.

dynamik

Schluep wrote:

Sorry for the roller coaster Andrew. I didn't mean to get your hopes up, just saw two threads I couldn't resist commenting on. The exercise thread is one I look forward to seeing again when I do make it on here.

No worries. I'm sure be able to cry it out of my system over the two or three days.

As long as you're doing well, that's all that matters.

Schluep wrote:

On a side note, if anyone is looking to buy a 2006 Toyota Corolla (Silver/full sport package) with almost 24,000 miles send me a PM. No point trying to pay insurance, maintenance, inspections, emission, and registration fees for 8 years while it depreciates with me at the Seminary having no income anyway.

My 03 Corolla is running just fine at 124,000 miles, but let me know if you're looking to get rid of any InfoSec material. I thought about asking earlier, but I didn't want to look like I was scavenging what was left of your career, like some sort of sick IT vulture

Do you have any immediate family? If so, how does your decision affect them? That's going to be a drastic change in lifestyle and finances. I don't mean to pry. If that's too personal, don't worry about responding. I was just curious.

I'm not sure if your occasional trips to MN were for business or pleasure, but if you ever make it out here again, be sure to send me a PM.