We had the honor of meeting Steven Holcomb when he visited the Microsoft campus a few weeks ago. Steven powered the U.S. to its first bobsledding gold medal in 62 years at the Vancouver Games. The Olympian is a PC through and through. He trains using an Xbox and is a Microsoft Certified Professional, now setting his sights on getting his Windows 7 certification.
Steven had planned to go to college and major in computer science before his bobsledding career took off. Now, as he basks in the victory at the Winter Games and enjoys a little downtime, he plans to brush up on his IT skills this summer and attain a Microsoft Certification in Windows 7. He’s not expecting it to be a cakewalk. “If it’s anything like the last time I got my certification, it’s going to be a challenge,” he says. “But at least it’ll be a nice change of pace from having to wake up early and go work out.”
Steven hopes to eventually land a job in the IT industry, but for the immediate future, bobsledding is his career. (“Gotta defend the gold in four years,” he says.) Fortunately, bobsledding training incorporates one of his longtime tech loves: gaming.
In addition to sprints and long hours in the weight room, Holcomb hones his hand-eye coordination and spatial awareness on the Xbox. His virtual training began in earnest several years ago, when he was bored waiting to get back into a bobsled. (During summer months many skiers travel to the Southern Hemisphere to train, but there are no bobsled tracks down there, so the team can only train on a track in winter.) He played a ton of games in the week leading up to his first day on the track. When he finally got in the bobsled, something clicked. “As soon as I was on the track, I noticed how much easier driving was – things moved slower, I could interpret everything that was going on, I could tune out everything that wasn’t on the track,” Holcomb says. “Sure enough, when I play video games my bobsledding improves.”
Steven is definitely a PC (“I’m a big fan of Windows 7”), but says he’s happy to help out teammates with technical problems no matter what type of computer they run.
Have a look at the video of Steven’s visit to Microsoft, Steven met with Microsoft Learning’s GM Lutz Ziob and with Springboard Series’ Stephen Rose.
We also invited Steven to join us at TechEd in New Orleans, we will share that story here later this week!
"and get MCP certification in Windows 7"
You have made so much mess with your certificates thateven you have lost track what you are selling. There is no such thing like "MCP certification in Windows 7".
Four years after introducing MCTS/MCITP and few changes to what MCP you have no idea about own program.
hi ROTFL, my fault for cutting and pasting a bit, you are right, I corrected the text. Thanks for the heads up!
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I don't know what that guy was trolling about Windows 7 Certification not being MCP. There is the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP): Enterprise Desktop Support Technician 7 exam, 70-685, and MCITP is a subdivision of MCP. Looks like he doesn't know what he's talking about, but the big mouths are always the biggest ignorants...
en.wikipedia.org/.../Microsoft_Certified_Professional
I have picked up my 6th Microsoft Certification and they still can not get my transcript right. Prometric has the data but Microsoft is so damn lazy or incompetent to get the data, They can not update my mcp transcript correctly given all the info. Hmmm.. Do I have to spell it out again and again. HYPE YOUR CERTS but execute your tasks with incompetence. Holy...