On this episode of the “I Am a Mainframer” podcast, host Steven Dickens is joined by Benjamin Daniels, Cloud Solutions Engineer at Oracle. While an undergrad at North Carolina A&T State University, Ben's professor for Java and mainframe classes was Dr. Cameron Seay. Dr. Seay because Ben's formal mentor and opened the door to many opportunities for Ben, and they continue to stay in close touch. After doing well in Dr. Seay’s Java class, Ben noticed that the other excelling students also participated in the Master the Mainframe Competition. Ben’s competitive nature — and his goal to be as attractive as possible to employers — inspired him to participate in the competition. Ben credits his competitive drive and curiosity to his continued growth. During their conversation, Steven and Ben discuss how Ben’s career hasn’t followed the path of a traditional mainframer. However, the foundational mainframe education he got paved the way for an internship at Cisco, and a career rich with exciting opportunities now and in the future. Connect with Ben on LinkedIn and Twitter.