King of Congo: “Technology is My Bible. It saved my Life”

When we see an internet browser, he sees everything that makes that page run. When we see a seemingly impossible equation, he sees a way to work through it to an answer. And when we see Luc Ibata-Okalobe, we should see a man with a passion for learning and for life. In the beginning, Luc had no clue what the internet was and how it worked. He knew little about technology, but it would someday lead him to a level one Cisco certification and be responsible for bringing him into the United States.

Luc spent 20 years in Congo without a trace of knowledge about technology or the internet. He left to France with the equivalent of a high school degree education and a passion for solving problems and working out math equations. Anyone could give him an equation, and he would find a way to work through it to get an answer. In France, he attended several colleges, mainly those with an emphasis in math and technology. He later attended a Mechanical school and left shortly thereafter to yet another school, emphasizing in IT and programming. It was here that Luc was introduced into the world of technology and IT, and quickly developed a passion for the science. As he began discovering that he had a knack for IT, he found a more concentrated private school that would lead him into his Microsoft and Cisco certifications.

Attending SUPINFO, one of the leading IT schools in France, Luc took immediate interest in not only his area of study which was programming, but he also found himself trying to learn about networking and IT. One of his best friends was in an IT program, so he and Luc would discover new networking things and work on them together. It was a couple years later when Luc had just as much knowledge in IT/ networking as in programming that he decided to take his Cisco certification exam.

Taking and passing the first level of Cisco certification was no easy feat for Luc. He would spend more than a full day’s work in the training program, from 9-6, everyday. From 10-5am, he was working a job to pay the bills. Yet, he would bring books and study materials to this job, sneaking in as much information as possible. Some would call him stressed out; but it was entirely the opposite. Luc had a passion to learn networking. After the bills, all of his money went into training materials. He had no money to eat, just to learn.

With his level one certification, or CCNA, Luc has the ability to see a network from its beginning to its end. His certification has given him the equivalent of a Master’s Degree and the knowledge to make internet networking look easy. He says that everything he knows about the internet and marketing he knows from Cisco. It gives him a basis of knowledge to solve almost any networking problem. His goal is to take and pass the next level certification. He has gone through the training and has the knowledge of what is necessary, but now needs to get the certification. With the next level of certification, he will not only be able to build and migrate networks, he will also be able to plan out and design networks from the beginning.

If you were to ask Luc why he went through all of the trouble to get his certification, he will just smile at you as if you are a formula that he needs to solve. He went through the certification training not just for exam, but for himself. Having a real source of learning, to believe what technology says, was his main goal. It makes him proud, having the certification or even the training. It’s very important. It gives him information beyond the answer. It gives him knowledge. And knowledge is what saved his life.