Under Construction...Partial Construction

So most of you know I am going to school for Digital Media and with that gives me a great option for my profession! Graphic design is something I am starting to get into because with Web design I am starting to want to learn the graphical part of it [yea I am nuts] so what better way to test out what I learn by showing some of my work on my personal website [which at the current moment is this darn blogger...which I am better at that!]. So with the recent name change I have decided to go under a total new makeover with the site.

So some parts are going to be going under construction! Which means what? Well I will probably be putting on a holt to the reviews and writings part of my blog! I have already decided to revamp them so that'll partake in the change. Plus my writings are being revamped a bit as well!! Which also means I am working on trying to get this blog eventually converted into a website!!

I will continue on with the Chaotic College Life series I got and I will be posting updates with whats going on in my life to a degree. Just figured I'd let ya'll know what was going on in my mind!

That's it for now!

-Mandi

Web Design Library: My One Vise I Use

Web Design Library
http://www.webdesign.org
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Well I have recently found a new website as I have begun really getting going in my dream career of being a designer. So I went on a search for finding a new website to go to for helpful tips, great tutorials, and even partake in discussion when I need more help further beyond. Not only do they offer that tips and tutorials but they also give links to web hosting sites, even sell their own templates for users to use (whether your designing yourself because you can't hire a designer). Well this is the great place to go! I use this myself and I love it. Thus the reason I am recommending that if your a designer yourself learning the trade and want to get some quick helpful hints (before taking the classes that is) then this is the place to go!

Chaotic College Life: A Slight Change

So I have been thinking about making a slight change in how I am going to blog about my Chaotic College Life. At first I was going to be summarizing my day, but upon discussing more about this to my Humanities class I figured I'd change things up a bit. How? Instead of writing what we learned that day I think that I am going to be blogging about what I got out of the lecture/lab that day PLUS give tips on how I think other students could learn from what I have learned. Then maybe I may include some thoughts and ideas for my future lecture/labs for that same class. However, I thought about ending the post here, but I'd hate to lose you all so I may just start with today's classes!

POLSC 151:
First exam for the class, I am thinking I did pretty good except for the fact that I freaked on the essay. It doesn't help that this was to a degree the first college exam I have had in the last two years [other than the Math exams I had two years ago]. I did study! Took me about 7 hours to do my note cards [they did help out with the last 12 minutes of the test] but because I freaked on the essay I had to wait for note period which meant that I didn't completely do good on the essay, but because I was confident on the multiple choice and still had the material freshly in my head [thanks to looking at the note cards a half hour before my test] I did great on that. I do highly recommend that if you ever get a teacher that allows notes that you not only use your notes from lectures but also doing note cards. Also if you have friends in that class, do a study group. Even if it's just you and that friend.

HUMAN 250:
Well this class so far is a great class. I am not only learning that its a great class were we can have fun and voice our opinion about the media but we can also have fun. I love this class because the Professor is great! Today in class he asked whether any of us were in to graphic design [um, yea I raised my hand] because he wants to have a picture for an article he is writing! Well I was able to get more info about the work he wanted and got to hear what he wanted so I have to work on that sometime tomorrow. Well with him asking me that I tweeted about it and because of something that happened in Humanities and me using Social Media I got a job offer that I cannot refuse (I'll keep you all updated on that as it comes along). So my advice on something like this...if an opportunity in your field comes in a class that you signed up for as a "blow off" class, go with and do what I did and take it to the next step!

CIS 130:
Second exam for the day and college life was in this class today! Did I study? No. Why? Well because I'm really good with computers and my brain is filled with all the knowledge from close to seven years as "apprentice" learning from my father I walked in confident with getting an A+ on the exam to a possible low A/High B. There were a couple questions that as I was taking the exam that I wish I would have just glanced through before the exam (I did have plenty of time in my 20 minute break to study) but I didn't think that I'd freeze again [ok I did but I didn't think it'd be in this class]. Even if you think your good enough to pass an exam because you think your smart enough...at least glance over it (especially if you don't like test/exams as well as I do).

MATH 121:
With Math being my most feared class I think today's class went well. I actually learned how to understand binary and what it meant. Now I am sure that'll have another computer class that'll help me understand binary so I am pretty glad that I really paid attention in class. Not only did we learn binary but we also went over our review for the first exam that'll take place in this class on Monday [yikes I better get started on my "cheat sheet" that we are allowed to have]. Thankfully I am pretty understanding with the stuff that I will be partaking in the cheat sheet that we are allowed to have and studying as well.

So I hope this wasn't as boring [which I am sure most of you thought that last one was] and that you understand that this is what I am hoping to portray with the Chaotic College Life series. I hope you guys and gals check back because I am trying to help you all out as well [if your in college that is].

Mandi

Chaotic College Life: Week Three, Day 1

Well today went really well for school! The last couple of times I have went to class seemed like things were dragging but today it actually felt different. Maybe its was because of the simple fact that it some what felt right that I was finally doing something right that made me feel better. But then again with just saying that I can't say that that's a right explanation. Anyway, today marked week three and day one of being back in college for the Fall 2010 semester. Thankfully since I scheduled classes for later during the day I can be able to sleep in til about noon so I get to sleep in. So most of the times my day on Monday and Wednesdays will start with going right to school after waking up. So without further ado I will get into a breakdown of my college day! Also today was the day that I got my student ID and library card so I think I am completely good to go for the semester!

POLSC 151
Today in political science was a different lecture because we are finally getting into something that I can actually start to understand. The U.S. Constitution!! Lectures are even getting really interesting because she gets us to understand what we are talking about by taking it down to our level...which is great for a professor to do because then she wouldn't be stuck failing us all. Also since its been a while since I have been in a government/social study type classroom I have been quite shy but somehow when I get my name called in class I take something that popped to my head that was relevant to the question and somehow got it right. That made my day so with that I just kept taking notes because hey, I'm learning something valuable. We didn't get through all of the chapter so I am not going into full detail until Wednesday!!

HUMAN 250
Oh the easiest yet fun class of the semester. When I first signed up for this class I first expected to watch movies everyday, then review or even just follow the text book. Well we haven't had to open the textbook yet this semester but Professor Bean [yes that's my humanities professor's name!! Funny I know] says that by mid-semester we should be in it. But today we got back our first journals...I got full credit!!! I was happy when I got it back because I was really hoping that I did good. After getting our journals back we started our discussion for the week...the war [mainly World War II]. We watched clips pertaining to the draft, Kent State University massacre, and a few others that we will be journaling about. Speaking of journal's I still have to do my second journal which I have no idea how I am going to make the Quran burning/Mosque controversy but I think I'll get it.

CIS 130
This is the most easiest class for me this semester because it deals with being on a computer and getting to know the computer. Hello? I am so good at computers that I could do this class in my sleep. Well today we went over what we had for homework over the weekend which was Chapter 3 which dealt with Computer Software. During the lecture my professor talked about Mozilla FireFox [a web browser that is widely popular right next to Google Chrome] and Google Chrome. I mention these two web browsers because these are the two web browsers that I enjoy using and highly recommend. I have both on my laptop and probably will always have both because they both are great browsers [which there will be reviews coming soon]. But at the current moment I am using Google Chrome. When the professor asked if there was anyone who used Google Chrome, I piped up and recommended the great features of Google Chrome. Since we went through Chapter 3 today and that's the last chapter before our first test, he dismissed class early without having us do a lab so I go out of class early.

MATH 121
This being not my strongest subject I hate going to the class but now that I have a teacher that takes time and actually takes my fears away in math I am starting to enjoy the class. Today we learned about exponents and roots which are things that start getting me confused. They still are as I have taken a break from doing my homework for this class to do this. But now I am not afraid to pipe up in class and ask questions. It was actually great to have one other person today think of the same question to go over in class so it didn't make me feel stupid that I didn't understand that question. So this class is starting to get easier and easier as time passes. Since math is math I just stick to it right aftewords because that way I'm not stressing.

Talking about not stressing, I think that I am gonna get back to doing homework as I have math homework and humanities homework. Keep an eye out for more blogs!!

Chaotic College Life: The Synopsis, Fall Semester 2010

Well most of you know that I am a full-time student. So most of my time is taken up by college, homework, and going to work itself. Well earlier I came up with an idea to do a blog series on the chaos that goes on in my life at school. Some of you are probably curious how I am going to fit this series in on top of homework and I'll answer that by trying to make this a part of my homework for all my classes overall. How will I make it apparent to all my classes? I don't know, I'll just make it a part of it because somehow I have a feeling that this may just help in itself (stupid thinking but hey I'm gonna go with the flow).

How this will work is that I will share with you things that I have learned in each class with posting summaries for my all my classes. Coming up with a great system will take time but for now this is going to be a work-in-progress type blog.What I am hoping to get out of this is to be able to look back one day and say wow, college really changed my life and I am glad that I got the education that I was able to get!!

First of all I am going to start off by saying that I will be creating Labels to help keep it organized and as I go I may just title with a cute saying or even just by a feeling for the day...I wanna be creative yet make it known that its is for the series.

Since this is starting the series for the Fall Semester of 2010 I will be giving a list of classes and the times I am in class. Plus with this one I am giving a description of the class right from the section information gathered from the college site. So without further ado, the class list:

POLSC 151 [Introduction to Political Science] Monday, Wednesday (Monday August 30 - Monday, December 13) 2-3:25p

This course emphasizes American political institutions, policy formulation, diverse political issues and key issues. This course also provides a foundation for responsible citizenship. Emphasis is given to the federal level of government with a critical look at the contemporary problems in American democracy.

HUMAN 250 [Visual Media Literacy] Monday, Wednesday (Monday, August 30 - Monday, December 13) 3:30-4:25p
This class will acquaint the student with the cultural messages that are created and manipulated by movies and television programming. Each student will be provided with the vocabulary and critical tools necessary for discussing and writing about these virtual media. Upon successful completion of this course, the student will be able to analyze the visual media and their role in shaping his or her world.

CIS 130 [Introduction to Computer Information Systems] Monday, Wednesday (Monday, August 30 - Monday, December 13) 5:30-6:55p
This course provides the students with the basic knowledge of computer information systems and includes both computer concepts and hands-on use of various computer applications. Computer concepts include computer system basics of hardware, software, files and data storage. The hands-on portion consists of using the operating system, spreadsheets, word processing, databases, presentation software, e-mail and the Internet.

MATH 121 [Technical Mathematics I] Monday, Wednesday (Monday, August 30 - Monday, December 13) 7-8:55p
Description coming soon!

Keep checking back for more of the Chaotic College Life!