Advisor Meeting and Appling for Graduation

Yesterday I met with my advisor, because I should be eligible to receive my Web Site Coordinator Certificate at the end of the semester. I was pretty sure I had met all the requirements because I went over the checklist for the program. However, I didn’t want to take the chance of missing something and having to postpone receiving my certificate so I went over everything with my advisor.

He had good news for me. I will, in fact, be receiving the certificate! It’s hard to believe that only a year ago I was beginning classes at Moraine Park and in a few short (or maybe long) months I will have a piece of paper in my hands as visual evidence of my accomplishment.

There’s still one thing I need to do to get that certificate (besides the obvious fact of passing this semester’s classes): I need to fill out the graduation candidacy form and submit it along with $30 to Student Services. He told me the form can be found by going to myMPTC, choosing the Student tab, and clicking on the “List of Common Student Forms and Requests link” on the right side of the page. I will be doing that this week.

Now, I’m still in the IT-Web Developer/Designer program, which is like a continuation of the Web Site Coordinator Certificate curriculum, so I will still be back for classes next spring. As always in the fields of computers and technology, there’s still more to learn!

Career Development Class

After grabbing a slice of pizza from the cafeteria (Yay for free pizza night!), I headed over to my first Career Development class session. It felt odd to sit at a table after two semesters of sitting in front of a computer for all my classes. Being in the IT-Web Developer/Designer program, I’m on the computer all the time.

In this class we’ll be learning about marketing: marketing ourselves! We do this through our resumes, cover letters, how we answer interview questions, and even how we present ourselves through social media.

What I’m really looking forward to learning about is how to find employment. We were already given a list of ways to find jobs including ones in the hidden job market. Networking is a huge part in finding jobs you can’t find on the Internet or when there is a lot of competition for a position. We’re going to learn all the ways to network effectively. Most people have heard of networking and its importance, but I think it’s somewhat unclear how you go about networking and who your network is.

I’ve got a lot of homework to do before next Thursday’s class. I’ll be reading two chapters out of our textbook and there are some assessments to complete. One of them is finding a job posting for the career field I’m in. We’ll be using that for tailoring our resumes. It’s an eight-week class so there will be a lot of information to absorb in that time, but it’s such an important thing to know how to present yourself. The potential employee that gets hired is the one who is the best prepared. They have a polished resume, a portfolio in hand, and have a solid answer for every interview question that is asked.

Welcome Back Lunch and Mascot Reveal

On Wednesday I went to the welcome back lunch at the West Bend campus. The event kicked off with free food and an announcement from our Moraine Park President, Dr. Sheila Ruhland. MPTC is getting a mascot! We are now the MPTC Gray Wolves. This mascot does not have a name yet, so to get input from the students we got to suggest names. In return for suggesting a name, I got a free T-shirt with our new mascot on it. We also get to vote for the name we want it to have in September through the myMPTC portal. The online voting will go live on Tuesday, September 6. To vote, log in to myMPTC, click on the Student Life tab, go to Student Life News and click on Vote! Name MPTC’s Gray Wolf. It should be interesting to see what people think the gray wolf’s name should be.

After that announcement, Mission IMPROVable came onstage to do some improv skits. They took suggestions from the audience, even a few of mine that I shouted out. In a scene one of the guys ended up skydiving off of a unicorn with James Bond. Thanks to them, I now know what a unicorn sounds like!

First Day of the Fall Semester

Monday was the first day of classes for the fall semester at Moraine Park Technical College. My Monday night class is Graphics for the Web. We’ll be using Photoshop CS5 to optimize images so they will download quickly and correctly on a web page.

The computers we use in this classroom are Macs, but they can run both Mac OS and Windows 7 operating system. I’ve had classes in this room last year, but before that I wasn’t aware a computer was able to handle two operating systems. Windows 7 is new to me, but I’ve heard it’s much simpler to use than previous Windows versions.

I’m actually looking forward to our final project for this class. We will be creating a logo for a company that will be selling a product in a foreign country. We get to choose the country and research what colors and symbols mean. Many countries have completely different meanings for colors and symbols than the United States. This is a very important fact to know.

After class, I walked to the bulletin boards to see what kind of events are coming up on campus. On my way to the board, I noticed they have installed new bathrooms next to the cafeteria. I’m pretty certain they were not there last semester. Anyways, there are a couple of events to go to this week. There will be a performance by Mission IMPROVable on Wednesday and free pizza on Thursday. I’ve got a class on Thursday night, so I will probably partake in that since I will be here anyways. Next week Thursday there is a Student Senate meeting. I’m thinking about checking it out.

For those of you who are new to MPTC, welcome and good luck on your first semester! And for those of you who aren’t new, welcome back and here’s to a great semester! Cheers!

First Week of Classes: Mission IMPROVable at the Welcome Lunch

I am very excited to see that Mission IMPROVable http://missionimprovable.com/ will be at all three Moraine Park Technical College campuses during the first week of the fall semester. They are a traveling group of performers who do improv skits similar to the ones seen on the TV show, Whose Line is it Anyway?

I had seen them perform a few years ago. My friends and I still quote some of the ridiculous lines from their show on a regular basis. They took suggestions from the audience and invited them on stage to perform with them. For one skit, the audience wrote down movie quotes and put them in a hat. They acted out a scene and had to use whatever quote they pulled out of the hat.

There is a free lunch for students from 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. and the show is from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. If you’re free and looking for some fun, definitely come to see the show! You’ll be talking about it all semester long!

Fond du Lac campus: Monday, August 22

Beaver Dam campus: Tuesday, August 23

West Bend Campus: Wednesday, August 24

To see more upcoming events, click on the “Events” tab on my blog site.

Getting Ready for the Fall Semester

Monday was the last New Student Orientation for the Fall semester at Moraine Park’s West Bend campus. I was there again to represent the Web Developer Club along with my fellow club member, Jim. We’ve got a few more people interested in joining the group, so that’s great!

While I was on campus, I picked up a few of my textbooks from the newly renovated bookstore. It’s a little more spacious and easier to get around. Something I really like about the MPTC bookstore that I haven’t seen at the other colleges I’ve been to is that they have an online site for the store. You can look up your classes, find out what books and supplies you need, and the prices for those items online. I like to see what books and supplies are required for my classes, do comparison shopping for the best prices, and then decide where to buy my items. I usually get half of my books from the bookstore and the other half online.

The bookstore has a relatively new textbook rental option that is a good money saver. And, if you’re looking for software, like Adobe Photoshop, the time to buy it is when you’re a student. You get a major discount. You can find information on the bookstore’s website: http://bookstore.morainepark.edu/

There isn’t much left for me to do to get ready for August 22. I just need a few notebooks and to print out my schedule so I know what room to go to and when. Don’t forget to enjoy the last two weeks of summer!

New Student Orientation

Last Wednesday I went to the New Student Orientation at Moraine Park Technical College in West Bend to represent the Web Developer Club. Different departments of the college and student clubs gather in the lobby to answer questions and give information to new students.

This time last year I was one of those students. I remember talking to many faculty, staff and students. They had a lot of information to share, and it was a lot to take in. They gave us good advice about college like to not take too many classes at once if we already had busy schedules and to only take out the minimal amount of loans. Those loans have to be paid back after you graduate.

This year I sat next to a person representing the Instructional Assistant club. Like me, she had information to share about her club and an interest sign-up sheet. I explained what the Web Developer Club did last year and why I thought it was a good idea to join a club. As I explained to the people I met that day, clubs are good for networking, learning, résumé, and fun. There’s a club for nearly every program. It’s definitely worth checking them out.

If you’d like to see what clubs Moraine Park has to offer, visit the student clubs page: http://www.morainepark.edu/services/student-life/student-clubs/

And if you’re in the IT-Web Developer/Designer program, join the Web Developer Club this fall!