So… I Wandered Off for a Bit
At some point, I drifted.
Not in a dramatic, “I quit everything and moved to a mountain” kind of way. More like… I opened one academic door, then another, then suddenly I’m deep into GIS, writing papers, and thinking about spatial relationships like I’m plotting a crime documentary.
It was good for me.
I learned a lot. I stretched my brain. I can now say things like “spatial autocorrelation” with a straight face.
But somewhere in the middle of all that…
I kept opening a terminal.
Old Habits Don’t Die. They Just Ping.
No matter what I was studying, I’d catch myself doing the same things:
“Let me just check the logs real quick.”
“Why is this service acting weird?”
“Wait… why is this port open?”
Next thing I know, I’ve gone from writing a paper to troubleshooting a network issue like I never left.
That’s when it hit me.
You don’t accidentally troubleshoot for fun.
That’s not normal behavior.
That’s a sysadmin.
Networking: Where Reality Lives
Here’s the thing nobody really says out loud:
Everything in tech eventually turns into a networking problem.
App not loading? Network.
Cloud issue? Network.
Security alert? Also… probably network.
You can have the most beautiful system in the world, but if packets are getting lost somewhere, congratulations, you now have a very expensive paperweight.
Networking is where all the “cool ideas” go to face reality.
Packets don’t care about your certifications.
They don’t care about your LinkedIn posts.
They just either get there… or they don’t.
And when they don’t, someone has to sit there and figure out why.
Usually at an hour that feels illegal.
Sysadmin Brain Is Permanent
Coming back to this also reminded me of something important.
You don’t stop being a sysadmin.
It’s not a job. It’s a condition.
You start thinking like this:
- “That worked… but I don’t trust it.”
- “Let me test it one more time.”
- “Why is it quiet? I don’t like this.”
Silence, by the way, is suspicious.
If everything is working perfectly, a sysadmin immediately assumes something is about to explode. It’s just a matter of when.
This mindset doesn’t stay at work either.
It leaks into real life.
You start questioning instructions. Double-checking things. Wondering what the failure point is in everyday situations.
It’s not always healthy.
But it is effective.
The “Oh… I’m Going Back” Moment
At some point, I stopped pretending this was temporary.
This isn’t me “revisiting” IT.
This is me going back to it properly.
Back to networking.
Back to sysadmin work.
Back to figuring out why things break and how to keep them from breaking again.
Not because I have to.
Because I actually like it.
Even the annoying parts.
Especially the annoying parts, which is probably a red flag.
Let’s Talk About the PhD (Short Answer: No)
While we’re being honest…
After I finish the MAS-GIT (Master of Applied Science in Geospatial Information Technology), I’m done.
No PhD.
Zero. None. Absolutely not.
I’ve spent enough time writing papers, formatting citations, and wondering if anyone besides my professor will ever read what I just wrote.
At some point, you look at your life and think:
“Do I want to spend the next few years writing more papers… or do I want to actually build stuff?”
I’ll take building stuff.
Every time.
What I Actually Want to Do (It’s Not Complicated)
I don’t need anything fancy.
I want to:
- Build systems that don’t randomly fall apart
- Fix things when they inevitably do
- Design networks that make sense
- Keep things secure enough that I can sleep at night
That’s it.
No big mission statement. No dramatic vision.
Just systems that work.
The Quiet Wins
Here’s the funny part about IT.
If you’re doing your job right… nobody notices.
No one sends an email saying,
“Wow, everything worked perfectly today. Great job.”
Nope.
Silence.
Which, ironically, is the goal.
The only time people notice you is when something breaks. And when it breaks, suddenly you’re the most important person in the room.
It’s a strange job.
But there’s something satisfying about fixing a problem that no one else even understands.
You just quietly make it work again… and go back to your day.
Back Where I Should’ve Stayed
So yeah.
I wandered a bit. Learned some things. Picked up new perspectives.
But at the end of the day, I’m going back to what makes sense.
The wires.
The systems.
The logs.
The “why is this not working” moments.
No hype. No drama.
Just real work.
And honestly… that’s more than enough.