Feeling somewhat special
Today I feel more special than I have ever felt.
Or… Well, or something like that.
Thing is, there is no clear adjective for this — But I successfully finished my Specialization degree! Yes, believe it or not, today I can formally say I am Specialist in Informatic Security and Information Technologies (Especialista en Seguridad Informática y Tecnologías de la Información), as awarded by the Higher School of Electric and Mechanic Engineering (Escuela Superior de Ingeniería Mecánica y Eléctrica) of the National Polytechnical Institute (Instituto Politécnico Nacional).
In Mexico and most Latin American countries, degrees are usually incorporated to your name as if they were a nobiliary title. Thus, when graduating from Engineering studies (pre-graduate universitary level), I became “Ingeniero Gunnar Wolf”. People graduating from further postgraduate programs get to introduce themselves as “Maestro Foobar Baz” or “Doctor Quux Noox”. And yes, a Specialization is a small posgraduate program (I often say, the smallest possible posgraduate). And as a Specialist… What can I brag about? Can say I am Specially Gunnar Wolf? Or Special Gunnar Wolf? Nope. The honorific title for a Specialization is a pointer to null, and when casted into a char* it might corrupt your honor-recognizing function. So I’m still Ingeniero Gunnar Wolf, for information security reasons.
So that’s the reason I am now enrolled in the Masters program. I hope to write an addenda to this message soonish (where soonish ≥ 18 months) saying I’m finally a Maestro.
As a sidenote, many people asked me: Why did I take on the specialization, which is a degree too small for most kinds of real work recognition? Because it’s been around twenty years since I last attended a long-term scholar program as a student. And my dish is quite full with activities and responsabilities. I decided to take a short program, designed for 12 months (I graduated in 16, minus two months that the university was on strike… Quite good, I’d say ;-) ) to see how I fared on it, and only later jumping on the full version.
Because, yes, to advance my career at the university, I finally recognized and understood that I do need postgraduate studies.
Oh, and what kind of work did I do for this? Besides the classes I took, I wrote a thesis on a model for evaluating covert channels for establishing secure communications.
Comments
David Marke 2015-06-03 00:48:45
many congrats on you win.
many congrats on you win. hope you keep going like this.
Kazito 2015-05-19 17:18:09
congrats
congrats Gunnar Wolfsburgo el especial
respadas 2015-05-20 11:26:45
Enhorabuena Special Gunnar Wolf
Special Gunnar Wolf … LOL xD
Roberto Andrade F 2015-05-19 17:05:19
Felicidades
Hola Gunnar:
Siento mucho no haber podido acompañarte en tu examen de la especialización.
Me da gusto ver que has crecido académicamente, y que lo seguirás haciendo.
Un fuerte abrazo y, créeme, comparto esa felicidad bien ganada.
Roberto