My MPTC Graduation

Lisa and me after graduation

Step 1: Bring your cap and gown.

Step 2: Leave your house early.

Thank goodness I followed step 2, because I forgot step 1 and had to turn around half way to Fond du Lac to get my cap and gown on the morning of my graduation. Other than that, the day went on without a hitch. The weather couldn’t have been more perfect; not too hot, not too cold; just nice and sunny.

When I got into the building, I checked in at the table where I picked up my white Student Senate cord. They directed to me to my “pod,” which is another check-in table in the building. Sam and Lisa, the student life advisors from Fond du Lac and Beaver Dam campuses, greeted me there, found my name on an index card, and gave it to me. I lined up alphabetically with other graduates from my program.

We entered the gymnasium filled with family and friends. There were too many people to locate my party, but I knew they were in the crowd somewhere. The college president, Dr. Sheila Ruhland, and the commencement speaker James A. Wessing of the Kondex Corporation spoke to us before we walked across the stage.

After the ceremony there was time to socialize with family, friends, other graduates, and the instructors. I introduced my parents to some of the instructors I was fortunate enough to have during my time at Moraine Park. They were also my brother’s instructors when he attended MPTC. I hugged the friends I had made over the past couple of semesters and made tentative plans to meet up with them soon. I spotted Lee, MPTC’s Fond du Lac student blogger, and congratulated him.

Congratulations to Mary, Sarah, Tami, Paul, John, Hannah, Lee, Rochelle, Jenny, Juan, Stephanie, and all the other 2013 Moraine Park Technical College graduates!

IVC: Interactive Video Conference

Being in the IT-Web Designer/Developer program, I have become very familiar with IVC - Interactive Video Conference - system. Many of our classes are taught this way.

IVC allows students from different campuses to have class together using video and microphones. I can be at the West Bend campus with classmates while the instructor and other classmates can be at the Fond du Lac campus. We can see and talk to each other through the cameras and microphones. We can also see what the instructor is doing on the computer on a separate projection screen.

The first time I saw a IVC microphone was a few years ago. I thought, what an odd looking mouse? It’s about the same size as one, sits on the table and has a long cord. There are several of them in each room that is IVC capable. If you’re in an IVC class, make sure you turn your microphone on when you want to talk otherwise the students at the other campuses can’t hear you. Similarly, turn it off when you’re done speaking; otherwise people can still hear you! Everybody does one or the other at least once.

I’ve also used IVC for meetings with people on other campuses. It’s really a great way to connect the campuses in real-time. Recently, we had a meeting about our student blogs and I got to meet Kirsten, the student blogger from the Beaver Dam campus (Note: Check out her blog by visiting the Links tab on my blog page). I was able to meet with people from Fond du Lac and Beaver Dam while staying in West Bend. I didn’t have to drive all the way to another campus. That’s a good thing with gas prices being so high.

Even though I understand what IVC is I sometimes forget, along with other abbreviations, what it stands for. Here’s a link to an MPTC page that shows some common abbreviations you may need to know when looking at class schedules:

http://www.morainepark.edu/programs-and-courses/class-schedule/abbreviations-class-schedule/