What I want out of TINST 207

This class seemed to work out perfectly. I was in a meeting with my advisor and she said that if I had three more credits I would have senior status after Autumn quarter ends. At the time, I was already enrolled in 15 credits. I knew I could not handle another five credit class, but the thought of a three credit class seemed doable; not to mention, I really wanted to be a senior sooner than later. Now my advisor and I had to find a three credit class, and it had to fit into my schedule. We did a search and a few courses populated, this course being one of them. My advisor was noticeably pleased to see this course show up in the search. She said this course would be exciting and interesting. After I heard the course name and read the description, I agreed.

Before coming back to college as a slightly older returning student, I was employed in a tech heavy environment with a demanding employer. Unfortunately and admittedly, I was not what anyone would consider tech savvy. I learned what I could, and I had the help of my coworkers for the rest, but I knew I needed formalized training to succeed in this career and likely any other. I realized that I would need to have some skill in the world of computers in order to have continued success. I subsequently left my employment and returned to school. Even though I am not studying computers as my major, I knew I needed to acquire a knowledge of computers within my educational path. This leads me back to why this class is so perfect: "Living and Working in a Virtual World," how much better does it get than that?

My expectation in this class is not to understand how to write code or do vertical look-ups in Excel, but to possibly have a basic understanding of what these machines are, what they are capable of, and how I can best utilize them for my purposes. I am interested to hear the perspectives and experiences of others, those of whom are in the computer field and those who are like me: a curious bystander. I expect to gain knowledge through the discussions and personal sharing of course related material, and ultimately, understand and appreciate the virtual world that we live in. The basic fundamentals of the cyber-sphere, as I am calling it, is undeniably essential to living and working in today's society. I would contend that this is the type of class a person walks away from knowing that they have gained invaluable information that is usable to them no matter what they eventually do in life.