Walking into the Altex store, an 11-year-old boy with his uncle points to different hardware components. The boy’s uncle guides him, choosing $500 dollars worth of hardware for a custom personal computer. At the time, he doesn’t know this is the moment that will spark a love for electronics, eventually guiding him to his passion and future career.
Senior Morgan Gibson is currently the only student technician utilized by Career and Technology Director, Brent Berryman to help with the high school’s computer-related needs.
“I come around and do menial tasks like repair protectors, repair systems [and] repair small things,” Gibson said. “Like if a USB port messed up, I can come by and bend it back into position. The people wouldn’t have to submit tickets to technology [because] they’d just have to contact me.”
Gibson’s first computer used the Windows Vista Operating system and a touchscreen. This computer was not owned by him but his parents.
“I had an awful operating system that was literally just a crash-a-holic,” Gibson said. “It was functional, but bad.”
This first machine pushed Gibson to pursue owning his own computer and learning more about electronics. Gibson’s uncle, a tech repairman and entrepreneur, originally taught Gibson how computers work because of Gibson’s grandma granting Gibson $500 to build his own computer. Gibson, to date, has built 10 computers and repaired over 25 because of this initial spark.
“My uncle gave most of the insight for the components [since] at the time most offerings were very [limited]. There weren’t many options [for instance] Windows 10 didn’t exist.” Gibson said. “I got to pick out the best components with him [and] I got to learn the difference between core and clock speed.”
During his freshman year, Gibson created a technology company. With this company, he repaired and built computers for about $30 to $35 an hour.
“One of the first things I did is that I started myself a tech business. It was a sole proprietorship,” Gibson said. “I would go around and help people with their computer needs, however, now that senior year has come around I have been unable to maintain it.”
During Gibson’s sophomore year, he met with Randall Anderson and Brent Berryman to decide if Gibson knew enough to work as a student tech; he did. His duties included iPad repair, iPad cleanup, desktop software repair and desktop hardware repair.
With this experience, Gibson plans to pursue a degree in cybersecurity from the University of Texas at San Antonio, one of the top nationally ranked universities in the field.
“With the degree I want to work in the government– CIA or NSA.” Gibson said. “I want to focus on helping other people. Using my degree to broaden my horizons to help people, that’s what I want to do with my life.”
