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!

Midnight Release

Last Thursday I waited in line for five hours. When it started to rain we weren’t troubled, we just opened our umbrellas. This evening was the culmination of ten years of memories. My friends and I saw the final Harry Potter movie, “Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows Part 2” at midnight.

I went to a Harry Potter midnight release in November a few years ago. It made things a little complicated for those college students who had class the next day and homework due. People were working on their laptops, reviewing their notebooks and reading textbooks in the lobby before we were allowed to take our seats in the theater. Hopefully they didn’t have any early morning classes. I was fortunate not to have any Friday classes that semester.

Luckily, this year the movie was a summer release meaning there was no homework or classes to worry about for the next day. While waiting in line, we played cards, did trivia with the people near us in line and watched people show up in elaborate costumes.

Despite the short-lived rain, it was probably the most fun and memorable midnight showing I’ve ever been to. The movie theater set up a canopy outside at the front of the line and handed out umbrellas to the people who didn’t fit under the canopy. My friends and I had our pictures taken twice, once while in line and once while sitting in our seats. Both pictures ended up on the theater’s website.

It’s been a good summer so far. I know that it’ll be ending soon when I see new student orientation listed on the Moraine Park Technical College’s online calendar. One more month to go!

Fourth of July

Just about every year I start my Fourth of July celebration at the Fourth of July parade in West Bend. This year it was packed despite the fact it was so very hot outside. One of the floats had a machine that shot mist into the crowd. The kids in the crowd really enjoyed that.

Later in the afternoon, I met up with my friends and went to the park. We brought a cooler along and had a picnic. It’s a good idea to show up early to claim a spot. It’s nearly impossible to move around easily or to find people after dusk. Calling someone’s cell phone and telling them your standing next to a tree isn’t the easiest way to meet up with someone after 8 p.m. at the park. I also brought my new giant checkers set and cloth game board, like the one we had in our fifth grade classroom. I just love it. I’d almost forgotten how to play it’s been so long.

The fireworks show was nice. It wasn’t windy and we picked a great spot so the fireworks were easy to see. They had beautiful golden fountain fireworks that everyone ooed and awed at. Unfortunately, the batteries in my camera died before I could take a picture of them.

It seems that every year the rest of the summer flies by really quickly after the Fourth of July. Soon it will be August 22, and I will be in class at Moraine Park for the fall semester.

My Summer Visit to the MPTC Library

It’s been more than a month since the end of the spring semester and I haven’t spent any time on campus since then until recently. I had a morning free, so I decided to stop at the MPTC library for a few hours.

While walking through the halls, I noticed some construction going on. It looks like the West Bend Moraine Park bookstore is getting a makeover. There was a sign saying it has moved temporarily to a different room.

The campus was a bit livelier than I had expected it to be, though not as busy as it is during the fall and spring semesters. I suppose there are quite a few people taking advantage of summer classes and the library’s computers. The cafeteria was open, too.

I spent my time looking through some Web design books. There is a section in the library where those books are kept so it was easy to browse. I freshened up on some basics and learned a few new things. If I have time, I’ll come back in a few weeks to browse through the books again. Only two months of summer vacation left!

Web Site Coordinator Certificate

Last semester while looking at what classes I’ve completed and what classes I still needed to take, I discovered I was only three classes away from being eligible to receive the Web Site Coordinator Certificate.

I’m already in the IT-Web Designer/Developer program here at Moraine Park. The outcome of the program is a technical diploma. The certificate requires many of the same classes that the technical diploma requires except the certificate requires fewer classes. It gives students a foundation in Web design basics.

I decided to sign up for the certificate because it’s something I’ll be able to put on my resume at the end of the Fall semester. It will be awhile before I earn the technical diploma since I’m only in school part time. Some of my classmates started off in the certificate program, decided they liked the classes and chose to continue on with the technical diploma. I think that’s a good idea to start with the certificate program since it’s a smaller commitment than the longer program.

I wasn’t sure how to enroll in a second program, so I went to Student Services to ask what I should do. They gave me an application like the one I filled out for the IT- Web Designer/Developer program. All I needed to do was fill it out and hand it in. There was no application fee or anything else I needed to do.

Some time later, I received a letter in the mail from MPTC stating I was accepted into the certificate program. I only need to take one additional class that isn’t a requirement for the technical diploma. Of course, I will check with my advisor to make sure I’m not missing anything. I will have a piece of paper in my hands that shows I‘ve accomplished something sooner than I thought!

My Online Textbook

After a brief hiatus to help out with my cousin’s wedding, I am back and still learning even though I’m done with classes for the semester at Moraine Park Technical College.

For some of my classes we use an online textbook and pay for access to tutorials. It’s like having a really, really big textbook that uses video to cover tons of topics relating to technology and computer programs. I am taking advantage of the fact that I have a year subscription. Why not use it during the summer to learn more about something or to learn something new?

I’ve learned how search engines work in class and a little about SEO (Search Engine Optimization). The video tutorial site we use for class has an informational tutorial for SEO. For those of you who’ve never heard of SEO, basically, a search engine takes what the visitor is looking for and finds what it thinks is the most relevant websites by searching for the key phrases on Web pages. This topic is so important in Web design. Every company wants to know more about it and how to use keywords effectively. They want their website to be as high up on the search engine results as possible so people can find their site.

Some of the material so far has been review, but some of it is new. I’ve learned more about how to research keywords so I’m reaching my target audience and choosing keywords that are high in search queries but low in usage by competitors’ websites.

I’m about halfway through the tutorial videos. It’s over 2 hours long and is broken down into chapters, just like a book. When I’m done with this one, I may see if there are some tutorials on how to use programs on my computer that I know how to use but would like to be better at using them.