IT World Canada’s youngest family member and former IT intern may work behind the scenes to keep our tech in check, but he isn’t someone who goes easily unnoticed.
Before gracing the Toronto office with his tech support and amusing anecdotes, Marc “Bonnie” Bonoan was a student at TriOs college where he was introduced to an internship opportunity for IT World Canada. Our Director of IT, and possibly Marc’s biggest fan, Mat Pancha took Marc under his wing throughout the course of his internship from January – February of 2016, and was so impressed by his work ethic and calming presence in the office that he decided to keep him onboard as a full-time staffer, and offered Marc his first “real” job.
Marc is a native of the Philippines, and though he doesn’t quite remember when he moved to Canada, (“sometime between grade 1-6”), he does remember his love for video games inspiring his career path.
“I wasn’t interested in computers per se, just playing video games, which led me to computers eventually. I started with an accounting program and thought a one year course in IT would be easier. I just got lucky to be hired at the right place at the right time.”
Marc’s “luck” has since picked up as he is taking a more active leadership role and carries the responsibility of holding down the tech fort, keeping ITWC’s Internet from crashing and shooing off viruses. He was also thrilled at the frequent opportunities to travel for data centre maintenance, despite his disappointment about which London he would be sent to on his first trip – even though he was told he would be back the next day and the team would be driving out there. Now he can happily add travelling to London (Ontario, not England) on his list of places travelled, along with Japan and China.
But Marc is more than just a computer whizz, inside and outside of the workplace. As the oldest of three siblings, Marc is burdened with the task of sharing the pearls of his wisdom with his younger brother and sister, including but not limited to the best TV shows to binge-watch. His top TV picks include Drake & Josh, Family Guy, Pawn Shops and anything on the Discovery Channel. Marc has fought the arduous battle of being lactose intolerant for most of his life, but remains optimistic knowing that bacon (his favorite food group) doesn’t contain any dairy products.
What’s next on the roster for the 20-year old IT genius? His current projects include beating his high score in his favourite video game The Last of Us, and his action items on his bucket list include meeting his celebrity crushes Emma Watson and Ellen Paige.
When asked what his daily responsibilities include, Marc asserts that he “basically turns people’s computers off and on.” Though, no one can turn a computer off and on with such dignity and poise as our favorite IT wizard, and for that we applaud Marc for gracing us with his presence this past year.
Fun fact: Marc is no longer allowed to wear contact lenses because of an unfortunate incident involving him sneezing while taking his left contact lense off and having to sport an eye patch for two weeks after slightly blinding himself.
