I’m part of a tiny minority in network engineering: I’m young. According to one set of demographics, the average network engineer in the U.S. is about 43 years old, and most of the field has 10, 15, 20+ years of experience.
When you’re just getting started, it’s easy to feel like the kid who accidentally wandered into the data center. That’s why (US)NUA feels different.
(OH)NUG: Where the Story Starts
My journey with (US)NUA really kicked off at an Ohio Networking User Group meeting, or (OH)NUG. I’d written about this in my “Summer 2025: Growth & Connections” blog, but the short version is this: I walked into that room expecting a tech talk and walked out feeling like I’d found a real community.
There were seasoned engineers swapping stories, younger folks comparing first jobs, and a keynote deep-diving into Wi-Fi 7 that suddenly made all the new white-paper buzz feel real. I even met peers my age who were just as obsessed with networks as I was – people like Dakota, who instantly made the evening less intimidating and more like hanging out with friends who just happen to speak OSPF.
That evening I also got to meet Jason Gintert, co-founder of the US Networking User Association and now CTO at Laketec, right here in Cleveland. Talking with Jason, you realize quickly that USNUA isn’t some abstract “national community” idea – it’s built by real people who care deeply about both networks and the humans running them. Hearing him explain why he helped start USNUA, and how intentional they’ve been about keeping it vendor-neutral, local, and welcoming to folks like myself who are still green, made the whole vision feel very real and very close to home.
● I left that night thinking: If this exists in Ohio, what would it look like everywhere else?
So I did what any good network nerd does – I propagated the route.
(WA)NUG: One Question, a Packed Room, and a Panel
I told my friend Sem Eyob from Seattle, who I’d originally met as a LinkedIn connection. Over time, that LinkedIn connection turned into one of my closest friendships – filled with long calls about our faith, career, and how we want to serve others through our work.
● When I told Sem about my experience at (OH)NUG, he didn’t just nod and
move on. He went looking for his local group.
When (WA)NUG’s Inaugural Event 2025 launched in Seattle this September, it did so in classic (US)NUA style: a vendor-neutral evening in a warm, buzzing venue full of engineers who actually wanted to talk shop.
Sem went to that inaugural (WA)NUG event with a mission. During the panel Q&A – which included Eric Chou, Network Architect at Network to Code and host of the Network Automation Nerds podcast – Sem stepped up to the mic and asked the question a lot of younger people are thinking but are too nervous to say out loud:
“What advice would you give someone green in the industry looking for internships?”
Every panelist gave an answer.
Except Eric.
Not because he didn’t care, but because it wasn’t a question he wanted to rush through in 30 seconds between “any more questions?” and “okay, let’s wrap up.” Instead, he did something very characteristic: he made space for a real conversation later.
Sem walked away from that moment with something almost more valuable than a perfectly polished answer: permission to follow up.
LinkedIn DMs and a Zoom Room: Meeting Eric Chou
After the event, Sem did the thing a lot of us say we’ll do and then never do: he messaged Eric on LinkedIn.
“Hey, you didn’t get a chance to answer my question on stage. Could we talk more about it?”
That DM kicked off a conversation that eventually pulled me in, too. Before long, Sem and I found ourselves on the podcast with Eric – someone with over two decades in the industry, an established author, and the man behind a podcast that’s helped countless engineers get into network automation.
The episode (featuring both Sem and I) is slated to drop this month, December 2025. We get to talk about our journeys, USNUA, AI, and what it feels like to choose one of the less “flashy” corners of IT at a time when everyone our age seems to be chasing AI and app dev.
For younger engineers, that’s what democratized access looks like. Not a paywalled course. Not a $1000 coaching call. A real conversation with someone who has walked wayyy ahead of you and is still willing to slow down and walk beside you for a bit.
So… What Are You Waiting For? Zoom out from this story and you see a bigger pattern.
This chain of events depended on a lot of small, very human things:
1. A free local user group where you can show up without needing a travel
budget or a fancy title.
2. Organizers who intentionally create a space where hallway conversations,
not slide decks, are the main event.
3. Senior engineers and industry leaders who are willing to sit on a panel and
hang around afterward to talk with students and early-career folks.
4. A culture where “I didn’t answer that on stage; let’s talk later” is normal, not
weird.
If you’re a young (or young-at-heart) engineer reading this, here’s my honest take:
USNUA is the reason I can say I’ve:
1. Turned a LinkedIn connection into one of my closest friends.
2. Watched that friend stand up at (WA)NUG and ask the question we were
both carrying.
3. Sat across a virtual table from Eric Chou, talking about what it actually
takes to break into this field.
All of that started with simply showing up to a local NUG. If you already have a group nearby, go. Ask the “obvious” question. Introduce yourself to the person whose talk blew your mind. Stick around after the session ends. If you don’t see a group near you, the cool part is that (US)NUA is actively opening the door for new city-level groups – and we’ve got people and resources ready to help you get started. In a world full of automated networks, the most powerful connection you can make is still a human one, and USNUA is one of the best places I know to start.
