I have the following classes behind me:

General Education

• English Composition I

  • We read some short essays and then wrote essays of different types, such as informal, narrative, and argumentative.  We finished the class with a thesis.  We also read Homer's Odyssey. I had never seen the movie, Oh, Brother, Where Art Thou?, which was a spoof of the Odyssey, but when we saw a short segment during class, I had to go rent the movie.  It was really hilarious, especially since I had just read the Odyssey.   The music was good, too; a lot of well-known bluegrass musicians.

• Survey of the U.S. Constitution

  • This is a HISTORY class which I really, really dreaded beforehand. But it was interesting and I really started getting into this class. I didn't remember much about the Constitution from high school. And besides, a lot of changes have taken place during my adult life in the way our Constitution has been "interpreted" (read: changed) by the Supreme Court. I was surprised at the beginning of class and had to readjust my perception of the foundations of our country when I learned that James Madison and company never intended for our government to become a democracy. We were supposed to inherit a republic instead. But the sixties and seventies changed that. And I learned that the reason the Supreme Court ruled against prayer in public school was because the prayer at issue had been written by a government official, therefore violating the First Amendment's "establishment clause" prohibiting government from establishing religion for the common folk. Remember the Church of England? The Taliban also had a "religious" government, which based laws on their implementation of their religion. I learned so much that you don't want to get me started!

• Principles of Microeconomics

  • We studied supply and demand, types of markets, consumer and enterprise behavior and price determination.

• Human Nutrition

  • This class was one I took because I needed the science credits. Then I actually learned some things! A lot of things! Not just how to eat well. We learned about how food gets converted into energy or, alternatively, fat. It didn't seem like a science class, but it actually was. I kept the textbook because it's got a lot of general information about health and nutrition.

Business and Math

• Business Math

  • We learned about different ways to calculate loan interest, compound discounts, depreciations, how to figure how much to invest now to have a certain amount in ten or twenty years, and mortgage calculations using amortization schedules and charts. Plus other math stuff. If I didn't know it before, I know now I'll never be an accountant and I hope it's not true that a little knowledge can be a dangerous thing because I may have to hide all the calculators.

• Bookkeeping I

  • Like it wasn't enough that I took Business Math.  Guess I'm just a glutton for punishment.

• Bookkeeping II

  • I did a little better in this class. It was actually kind of fun. Bet you never thought you'd hear me say that!

• Business Law

  • This one is not as dull as it sounds.  We learned a little about the legal system in general.  Mostly, though, we studied contracts and case law for contracts, agents, and especially the Uniform Commercial Code, which has a big influence on today's business transactions between merchants and between merchant and consumer.

• Business Letters and Reports   (click to see more)

  • My final project - also used in the 2000 grandparenting web final project.
    

• Principals of Management

  • I learned some general concepts about what the newest trends in organizations and management. After one chapter, I began to realize that managing in a business is a lot like rearing children. A manager takes a new employee through various stages. During the first stage (infancy) the manager focuses on making sure the employee learning the tasks and skills. Then the manager makes sure the employee knows what kind of behavior is considered appropriate (toddler stage.) Then the manager leads the employee (the older child) to gaining competency to take more responsibility. Then when the employee is totally competent and has a sense of responsibility, the manager begins the socialization stage of getting to know the employee as a person (manager becomes teenager's friend and confidante.)

Computer Information Systems

• PC Operations

  • A little on the basic side, learning to use Windows 98, but I actually did learn some things.  Like how to open a simple document with Wordpad (Word's little brother) when you don't need the overkill of Word.  And how to get more out of the concept of your Windows "desktop."

• Introduction to the Internet

  • I took the online version of class. Kind of ironic because we have to use our Internet knowledge in order to do the online class. But it's required for the "Computer Information Applications" degree.

• Introduction to Computer Information Systems

  • A basic course covering the role of computer hardware and software in today's world, with some discussion of the future of computers and their uses.  We learned about Moore's law, which holds that CPU's double in processing power roughly every 18 months.  And we had to learn how computers process data so that we can communicate with them.

• Computer Literacy Software

  • "Hands-on" introduction to a data base, spreadsheet, word processing and operating system software package (in this case Microsoft Office 2000).  Lab experience includes exposure to a programming language, data base information management system, spreadsheets and word processing.  The word processing was something I've done for a long time, and I've had a teensy amount of exposure to spreadsheets and data base management.  This gave me some feedback, guidance, and challenged me a little on some activities which I might not have attempted on my own.

• Microcomputers in Business

  • I learned more about the Office2000 word processor (MS Word), spreadsheet (Excel), database management (Access), and presentations (PowerPoint) using "Advanced Concepts and Techniques." We did some application programming, integration of the various programs and the Internet. We also did a little fun project called a "switchboard" which is developed using macros to create a user interface to a database.

• Intermediate Spreadsheets

  • This was almost a continuation of Microprocessors in Business, except we focused on spreadsheets using Excel. We did get a little more in depth on pivot tables and web interactivity.

• Lan System Management

  • We studied network software and installation, network utilities and troubleshooting.  No "hands-on" projects in this one, because it was an online class.  Therefore, all our projects in setting up and troubleshooting networks were theoretical.  We did get to put together a couple of field trips to look at the innards of the Fallon campus' college network.

• Visual Basic Programming Language I

  • This was the first semester of Visual Basic and I've decided to take the second semester, because this has turned out to be pretty useful. Good timing, too, because some of the procedures helped me in my Spreadsheet class, since Excel also using a parallel version of Visual Basic known as Visual Basic for Applications or VBA.

• Visual Basic Programming Language II

  • This was the other half of the class I took in the next - to-last semester.

Graphics and Web Pages

• Digital Imaging - beginning   (click to see more)

  • Introduction to computer-aided creation and manipulation of images from traditional and digital cameras and from scanners using digital imaging software (Adobe Photoshop 5.5)
    
    My digital images - click on the snapshot to see the gallery.
    

• Digital Imaging - intermediate

  • ART 231 - Advanced Digital Imaging using Photoshop 7.0. I had ART 230 two years ago with Photoshop 5.5. I needed to get caught up and get up to par, since I find myself needing more skill with editing and creating digital images. Click to see some of the images I did during my last semester.

• Web Page Design using FrontPage 2000   (click to see more)

  • My final project - my first Web site from 2000.  Click on the snapshot to go to the live Web site where it still lives.
    

• Web Page Design (again - this time using HTML)   (click to see more)

  • a.  My final project, which is now a live website.   Click on the snapshot on the left to see my working Web site for grandparents raising grandchildren.

  • b.  A copy of my previous web site for posting my assignments for the class.   Click on the snapshot on the right to see my Web page for assignments.

• Advanced Web Page Design - using Dreamweaver MX   (click to see more)

  • Advanced Web Page Design. We learned about Macromedia's Dreamweaver, Flash, and Fireworks. I am learning a lot about animation. Fireworks is another digital imaging application, and flash creates animated and interactive elements for the web. Click on the snapshot to go to the working Web site.
    
  

Desktop Publishing

• Advanced Desktop Publishing using Pagemaker 7.0

  • This class was fun. My first experience with computers (besides the Vic 20) was with word processing. Then I discovered desktop publishing on the computer. I liked working with a company newsletter back in 1981, but we used poster-board for our layouts and our clipart came out of a book on our desk. When we were done with the content, layout and artwork we took it to the print shop and the printers did the rest. So when I first discovered desktop publishing on my computer in 1995, I really enjoyed it.

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Last updated on:  June 17, 2003