Ever wonder who’s always fixing the computers around school? That’s Jerry Gue, the technology infrastructure manager for Hackley, who has harnessed his love for all things tech into a successful career keeping all students and faculty online.

Mr. Gue grew up in Rockland County, New York. “My parents are from Haiti and I have about 11 uncles and aunts on each side of my family, and I grew up around them. I had more cousins as friends and it was a family-oriented environment that I grew up in,” he said.

His passion for computers and technology started to present itself when he was young because his family members always brought their devices to him to fix. “Any family member, I would put their computers together so a lot of people came to me and I enjoyed helping people with their issues, so I think my passion for technology and helping others fused together,” Mr. Gue said. In addition to computers, it didn’t matter what type of technology Mr. Gue received, he just enjoyed working with whatever he could find. “My parents would go to garage sales on the weekends and one day they came back with a Commodore 64 and an Atari and I was so excited to see this technology in the house, get my hands on it, hook it up, and start using it,” he said.

After graduating from Spring Valley High School, Mr. Gue went to Farmingdale State College to pursue his bachelor degree in computer information systems. During his years at Farmingdale, he was a DJ for many college parties and also worked at WRAM, the school’s radio station. “I was the general manager in my third year and oversaw the financial director, program director…I had my hands in everything because I worked my way up,” he said about his position at the school’s radio station.

Mr. Gue got a job working for Cablevision as part of their tech support group after graduating from Farmingdale, but it was not his ideal job. “I provided tech support for all the Optimum and Cablevision services that they offered and I did it over the phone. At Cablevision you’re like a number and there’s no human interaction,” he said.

Despite his concerns about Cablevision, Mr. Gue continued to love helping people with their technological issues. After two years at Cablevision, he joined the Hackley community in 2008 to become the technology infrastructure manager. Along with setting up audio and video for school events, Mr. Gue’s job consists of,“overseeing the daily performance of all computer systems. I install, configure, and perform repairs to hardware, software, and peripheral equipment. I use a tech support ticketing system that receives IT service request from all faculty and staff so that I am aware of their technical issues and can address them accordingly,” he said.  

What he admires most about Hackley is the sense of genuineness and that he can “put a face to a name and actually interact with individuals,” he said. “I love it here at Hackley. I think it’s very important that you love what you’re doing and you do a good job at it and I think that’s vital for a company or a school,” he said.

Along with playing video games and building devices, Mr. Gue spends his free time fishing, creating websites, and travelling. “I travel to Italy, so travelling is something I like to do as far as hobbies go, but technology is my life,” he said.

Mr. Gue’s lifelong passion for technology and his career at Hackley provide him with an amazing community to practice and share his passions. “When you enjoy what you do, I think you’ll be great at it and people will be grateful and show gratitude for what you do,” he said.