Perhaps you remember the friendly prank that Supt. Chris Evans pulled on IT specialist C. J. Moua last January, calling him into the Superintendent’s Office on the pretext that a computer problem needed immediate fixing.
Surprise!
Evans informed the IT specialist that he had been named Natomas Unified’s Classified Employee of the Year, which Moua later described as “jaw-dropping” news. “I was elated,” Moua said. “I didn’t know what to say. Wow!”
Who is this hard-working, third-year NUSD employee whose primary job is to keep laptops, desktop computers, phones, iPads and other technology equipment in good repair in the Ed Center and Staff Development Center?
Here are 10 things you probably don’t know about Moua:
1) CJ is a nickname, basically an English abbreviation for his given name, Xiage. He is the eldest son of nine children. The family immigrated to the United States from Thailand after the Vietnam War. CJ was a toddler at the time.
2) He predicts the Chicago Cubs will win this year’s World Series for the first time since 1908.
3) A big sports fan, CJ’s favorite teams are the Boston Red Sox in baseball, Denver Broncos in football, Detroit Pistons in basketball, and Chelsea FC in soccer.
4) Personally, the sport he plays most these days is golf, but he’s no stranger to football, soccer and basketball. He also likes to fish.
5) CJ always has been curious about fixing things, but he hasn’t always been good at it. His father used to warn family members that if they let CJ take apart a TV, radio, or any other electronic component, they’d never see it work again.
6) As a teenager, CJ’s goal was to become a criminal justice lawyer because “growing up as a kid I used to watch the ‘Perry Mason’ show.”
7) His favorite TV show all-time is “Married With Children” and his current favorites are “The Big Bang Theory” and “The Blacklist.”
8) His fascination with computers began in his early 20s, when his cousin invited him to a Stockton computer show. He ended up buying individual components — a mother board, processor, housing, memory, case, CD rom – and later assembling them himself, thus building his first PC with no formal training.
9) Much of CJ’s IT knowledge is from experimentation and personal study – it’s self-taught, not from classroom instruction.
10) Here’s how CJ describes himself: “I’d say I’m personable. I’m easily approachable. I’m always willing to help out where you want me to. And I can honestly say that if I fix a situation, I’m always going to follow up, because I want to know, ‘Is it still working?’”
