Greetings, Lab Rats!! ("Lab rats" borrowed from A Good Year, starring Russell Crowe)
My summer semester goes well. I only have 2 classes: Advanced Photoshop (Web Graphics II), and myPHP & MySQL class. I am also "auditing" a third class that I have already taken just to reinforce it: my original PHP class.
As usual, I love all my classes. Mr. Long and Mrs. Black are great!!
In PHP and MySQL, I created a Web Blog - not this one as this one is created from someone else's template - but my very own. I need to publish it onto the Web!! It still has one minor problem: my pages do not automatically refresh when a user adds a comment or when I add an entry. I think it has to do with session id or something of that nature.
I am required to chose 4 out of the 8 or 9 possible projects for this class. The Web Blog was my first choice. Now I am creating a shopping site. It's pretty amazing - and fun!! I am not sure what my third project will be, as there are 4 more I would LIKE to do. We'll see how much time I have...
Advanced Photoshop is incredible. We are editing pixels: hue and saturation, filters, and masks. I love it! It is so amazing what you can do with an image.
The PHP class is great, too. I am really grasping what we're doing now. I GET it!! I felt lost through most of the semester when I originally took it - though I made an A in the class. (Not only am I getting much needed reinforcement, but I am helping the students in the class, as well - which is like double reinforcement!)
So, I guess you could say I am taking three classes this summer.
This is my last semester at the diploma level, but not my last semester at NGTC.
Beginning in the fall, I will be in the Web Design Degree program. I will have only the fall and spring semseters and then I will GRADUATE!!
So, what's the best thing about this semester's coding? - !!
Well, I really enjoyed creating (building) that Web Blog (and now the shopping Web site with the shopping cart), but I guess the coolest thing is meshing the database and the Web site - and using Php and MySQL to do it. Oh, and I am also self-teaching HTML5 and I love it! It's so easy and so - er - pardon the pun: dynamic!!And so... life continues on its winding journey...
Everyday brings me a little closer to graduation and to my big decision: WHAT am I going to do after I graduate? My original plan was to graduate and go into business for myself (and I do have three clients already.) But with an A in every single class (so far), and enjoying helping (teaching?) in all my classes, perhaps I should pursue a higher education and become an instructor at NGTC. I am just undecided. I love to teach - I am a natural at it just like my mother, father, grandmother, and so many others in my family... it would make sense to go that direction. I guess I will wait until closer to graduation before I decide.In the mean time, I am involved in three clubs at school, plus committies, and I am an active member of the local Square Dance club: Habersham Squares. Truly I am living and learning in the mountains - and lovin' it!!
