Mistake below ...

For some reason, my post below isn't showing the website link that I typed. When you get to the spot that says "(If you want to check it out, you can find it at ______)," insert the word/link "asunshinehouse.org". Sorry...

Tips for the Incoming Class...

Well, as you're reading this, you've probably just been told to get online and create a blog of your own on which you'll need to write a post about yourself. The post should be detailed so that your fellow classmates will be able to get to know you and be able to decide who they think that they'll work best with in a group setting. Am I right? Is that what you're doing? Checking out what I wrote this semester so you'll have an idea as to how your posts should sound? No problem ... that's what I did too. :)

Anyway, I'm sure you've also gone over the syllabus for the semester and seen that you have a lot of work to do: portfolios, mock interviews, presentations, proposals, etc. I'm not going to lie to you; it is actually a lot of stuff that you'll have to do, BUT Angie is a great teacher, and she'll help you get it all done. There were actually a couple of times this semester that I felt really overwhelmed by all of the stuff that I had to do, but it all turned out well. Everything ended up coming together nicely.

One tip that I have for you guys is to be open about the stuff that you're having to do. Instead of getting a little frazzled because it is a lot of stuff, just think about the fact that you're actually getting real business practice out of it. Also, if you do something similar to what we did this semester, you'll be helping out a real client, which is always great. This semester, we were able to really help the Anderson Sunshine House by making a website for them. (If you want to check it out, you can find it at ). Needless to say, now that I am finishing the semester, I have a real sense of accomplishment. You'll be feeling that, too, come Christmastime.

Anyway, I hope that your semester is excellent and that you do well!!!!

Miscellaneous Thoughts

Wow! This semester has flown by! It is just about the last week of classes, which also means that it is almost the end of our big group project - that means that it's time for a reflection on how the project has gone. :) I feel like the project went very well. I really liked the fact that this project involved doing something for someone who really needed the help. In this case, we made a website for the Anderson Sunshine House. It's a great organization who is out there helping others, and we were able to pay them back a little for all the help that they give to Anderson County. I also thought that this project worked very well with our business writing class because while we created the website, we also had to write proposals, memos, letters, business emails, etc.

I feel that this class as a whole (not just the project), was a great class to take because it really did prepare me for the business world. I learned about things that I will definitely need to know in a few short years. Everything about the interviewing process is great to know such as making sure that you attach a cover letter and also remembering to send a thank-you letter afterwards. I really enjoyed this class and thought that it was worthwhile to take.

Now ... on to the Virginia Tech massacre. The whole thing was so shocking and just absolutely terrible. It is really frightening to know that that could happen anywhere. And that is the exact problem: I really don't think that there is any way to prevent something like this from happening. If someone is already planning on taking their own life, there is no way to stop them from taking others'. The only thing that I could think of to possibly prevent this would be to install weapon detectors at entrances to buildings. However, that would be extremely costly seeing as campuses are very open and that there are probably no less than five entrances to just about every building on a college campus .... Maybe that could work, though, if they started allowing you to only enter through certain doors; all of the others would be for faculty and people with keys .... Then, ofcourse, there's the possbility of the person with the keys also being the one with the gun - it's a very tricky situation.

So ... these were my thoughts ... hopefully someone in charge of this has better ideas than me. :)

Phase 3

It's all coming together now! Very exciting. My group, Tiger Web Design, had our web design picked, so we will be responsible for creating templates and organizing the links. We can also do usability testing, but I actually think that all the groups will be doing that in the end. Correct me if I'm wrong.

As for me, personally, I will probably work on organizing the links in an understandable and instinctively usable way. Crystal and Jocelyn are the "web design" people, so they will be working on the templates. However, that is A LOT of work, so I will also be completely willing to help them in any way that I can, whether it be by doing research, or by writing something, or by finding pictures.

I am enthusiastic (not anxious (this time anyway)) to see how all of the groups' collaborative work comes together in the next few weeks. I think it'll be great!