That picture definitely captures my relationship with my computer before this class, but now I think we've come to a better understanding of each other. It was a rocky road with a lot of yelling and frustration... from mostly me, but it was worth it in the long run! I have learned a lot of great skills from this class that I know will benefit me, in technologically dependent world. Thank you professor Wilkes for making this class enjoyable and interesting too! I truly enjoyed it.

     Before this week I had no clue what coding was. I had never thought about how any computer programs or computer games worked, because it seemed way over my head. It baffled me to see just how simple coding could be, firstly from seeing the introduction video and then from actually coding in the program Scratch. To my surprise, I really enjoyed it too and had fun controlling my own little cartoons! The coolest part is that I know this learned skill will come in handy in the future as we become more and more dependent on technology. We all should learn to speak computer!

  

  For week three, I have really struggled to keep up with the school work and to remember to check on my class every day. I really need to learn how to manage my time better with this class because I know it is very important. I also had a difficult time with the access program last week. The program was totally foreign to me and obtaining the program itself was a challenge. I literally wanted to throw my computer out the window at one point but, I finally got the hang of it thanks to YouTube! Now, I'm off to go play catch-up on my studies and to figure out a better way to keep up with this class!

 

 

  I have never taken an online class, and it is definitely taking some getting used to. So far, it has been difficult to juggle my 2 jobs and keep up with classwork, but I'm managing! I cannot believe how many things I've learned in only two weeks. It feels like I've been in this class for a whole semester already! For the first module in class, it was about the web. I found it very interesting to learn about how brilliant and innovative technology has become in such a short amount of time. The next module that we covered was on Excel. For this module we learned how to make a budget with the windows Excel program, which is going to definitely come in handy for this upcoming year as I gain more responsibility over my finances. In our Word Module, we learned how to do a Mail Merge. I know that this will benefit me for future use. This tool will make life so much easier by being able to send different addressed letters to a mass of people. This class has provided me with many great tools already, that will help me out in this technology dependent world, and I'm excited to learn more!

Dolphins Galore!

  

  My childhood dream became a reality four days ago when I went swimming with Makai and Megara with my Boyfriend Brad. Magara and Makai are mother and daughter, bottle nosed dolphins living in the Atlantis Resorts Dolphin Cay located in the Bahamas. It was truly an amazing experience getting to play with, dance with and kiss these brilliant animals! For one of their tricks, I got to lay down on a boogie board while Makai pushed me across the water like a rocket. I had no idea how strong their rostrums were (their snouts), but apparently that was their minimum power that they were exerting on us. Dolphins can actually push up to two times their own body weight, so the average bottle nosed dolphin can push up to 600 to 1000 pounds! Crazy stuff. I still can't believe that I got this opportunity to swim with these beautiful animals... Definitely up there on my list of coolest experiences I've ever had.