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Name:
Bapi Lagardo

Age:
n/a

Country:
Italy

Job:
Network Engineer

Bapi Lagardo

From Flower-Seller to Network Engineer.

Bapi Lagardo's career in IT started at the very bottom.

We have received many inspiring stories of Networking Academy graduates who have come through incredible hardships to become successful IT professionals, but few are as amazing as Bapi Lagardo's.

Disaster strikes...

Whilst visiting Italy from his native India in 2000, Bapi had his money, passport and documents stolen. To make matters worse, as Bapi was undergoing the arduous process of having new documents issued, he realised that the Italian government had declared a national amnesty for undocumented foreign workers.

...and opportunity knocks

With a grasp of English, but hardly a word of Italian to back him up, Bapi took the incredibly bold decision to turn his unfortunate situation to his advantage. He would remain in Italy, in order to seek his fortune.

But neither the naturalization process, nor a bright future were to come quickly or easily. The beginning of Bapi's two-year wait to become an official resident in Italy is where he takes up the story:

A matter of survival

"Survival was my first instinct. But with no knowledge of Italian, I found it extremely difficult to find a job to be able to afford a daily square meal and a bed every night. So I began selling flowers to motorists at the traffic lights."

Like millions the world over trying to make a new life in a new country, Bapi had found himself at the bottom of the economic pile. His subsequent jobs - washing plates in a restaurant, and then working as an unskilled factory worker were poorly-paid, gruelling experiences, as he remembers only too well:

"Working 10 hours per day, including on Saturdays, I found the schedule heavy, but I continued for 3 years with no alternatives in view." It was then that he decided to take hold of his future once more, this time thanks to the Internet.

An intriguing possibility

"One day, I came across an online ad for Italy's Europa Networking Academy in Bergamo. I don't remember the exact date, but it was on a very hot summer afternoon in August 2005 that I went to meet the senior instructor of the academy, Mr Rocco Tessicini. He opened my eyes to the tremendous possibilities and challenges in the world of networking."

Bapi was intrigued, but incredibly nervous about undertaking a NetAcad course. Then Tessicini told him the true story of a bus driver who was now a highly successful network engineer, thanks to the NetAcad program. It was enough to convince Bapi that he too could make it in the program, and as an IT professional.

"It wasn't an easy beginning", recalls Bapi, "but the excellent curriculum of the academy, that provides ample hands-on experience, gradually brought the best out of me. The academy's management supported me both economically and morally until I successfully completed my CCNP."

Upward mobility

Bapi is now, like the Italian ex-bus driver that inspired him, a successful network engineer. He is currently working for a telecommunication company in Milan. As for his future, Bapi intends to continue studying and gaining certificates, because: "with the Networking Academy Program the sky's the limit!"

Bapi's last comment is both an encouragement to others in his situation, and a warning to those who would underestimate the potential of the lowly immigrant:

"Could you now ever imagine a street flower-seller becoming a network engineer? That's the miracle of NetAcad. And it could happen to you, too! So next time you come across a flower-seller or a dish-washer, don't take them lightly. They could be the future engineer who fixes your networking problems."

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