Camel from Kyzylkum

Emmes

THE FIRST WEEK I HAD A job orientation period during which my boss, Stuart, explained the nature of my work to me. But then the time came for me to write programs to make our applications work the way we wanted them to work—to collect and save data, do calculations behind the scenes, and many other tasks. I did not know where to start, as I did not have a sufficient knowledge base. When I was at my apartment after work, I could not stop thinking about my work and how I could learn before they kicked me out. I had a feeling that I was falling off a cliff. I needed help. I needed somebody who could teach me. I knew that before they hired me, a Russian-speaking programmer had worked at the position. I decided to find him and ask for help. So I did.

Alex started working with me on the weekends, and I paid him $25 per hour. We continued this collaboration for a month or so, and it was very helpful for me. In a few years, Alex returned to Emmes and eventually became Director of Software Development in the Computer Department. But then he suddenly got fired after many years of working there—he had some disagreement with the owner of the company.

My retirement in January 2016 from Emmes was announced by the president and CEO of The Emmes Corporation on our internal website