Final Stretch/ IS101 Overview

I am almost done with Fall 2019 semester! I scored a 100% on two finals, 90% on one, and have been pushing to finish all my projects in IS101. This by far has been the most challenging semester so far of my "college" experience.

I started this draft on Friday, but it is now Sunday and I just got back from the computer lab working with Professor Wu. I completed all the assignments I needed to to be successful in the class! It is bittersweet this semester is coming to an end. I have challenged myself a lot, and really found my weak areas that I will continue to work on.

An over view of this semester in IS101, I was the procrastinator in the class without a doubt. I took the class before and failed, this time around I really feel like I left here with so much more information and understanding of computer systems. I made my own webpage (with help of course). The assignments that were similar or may have been the same as my first time taking the course were laid out in a way I could understand and receive help to finish, whereas my first class I don't think I did one assignment right because of how the instructions were laid out. The blog, resume, and webpage were the assignments I found most beneficial this course. I now have many platforms people can view. Without such a good teacher, I don't think any student in this class would feel as successful or well-taught. The class I dreaded I am now so happy I successfully took on, I learned so much!

MOS Excel Exam

Yesterday I  finally took came in and took the excel exam! My experience could have been better, but at the end of the day I passed and that's all that matters. The first project given was easy, but on the first task for the second project (the hyperlink task), for some reason my computer froze, not once, but twice... about twenty minutes of my time to complete the exam was GONE. Even though my screen wouldn't let me do anything, the time kept ticking. At that point I was so anxious to get the test done, I completely had to skip the second project to avoid it freezing on me again and when I say I never typed functions so fast in the last 45 seconds of the exam I MEAN IT.

My time ran out, I was one whole project short, and wasn't able to review the tasks I marked. For some reason when the test is finished it takes forever to see the score?? So, anxiously waiting for my score to load I was so relieved I got over a 700. I am going to retake it this week for a better score and I'm going for the PowerPoint Exam next!

Thanksgiving Activities

Every year since I can remember my family goes Black Friday shopping the night of Thanksgiving and we see a movie the day after in the evening. We always eat early around 3-4 and clean up/rest after until 9-10 when the shopping spree begins. My mom taught me to go to Target as late as you can because when we checkout after midnight (into Friday) we get the BF sales + a gift card back. For some people, it may not be worth it- but for my mom who fills up a cart and a half it makes a difference! She makes us shop til we drop Thanksgiving night. Going to sleep at 3 in the morning just to wake up and go anywhere we didn't get to the night before. THE SAVINGS AND DEALS ARE VERY REAL.

This year, for our annual movie on Friday we watched Frozen 2. As I have mentioned before, my youngest sibling is an 11 year old boy. I feel like at this point my parents want to see the new children movies more than we do (I still was hoping we would see it though lol). I really liked the first one but this one was more of a musical than the first and I found Christoph and his reindeer's 5 minute song was what threw me off the movie. Some kids movies are for the adults too but this one was definitely more for the kiddos!

Santa Pictures

Last night my mom made a reservation for my siblings to go take pictures with Santa. My youngest sibling is 11... So we all meet at town square and when we walked into Santa's 'house' they looked like they were not expecting such old kids!
My brother said "My mom makes us take this picture every year let's get it over with". Hilarious!
My sister is 25, I'm 19, my brother is 15 and my youngest brother is 11. But I don't think we'll ever be too old for Santa pics to my mom.

Disney Plus

DISNEY+ IS MY NEW ADDICTION. Since I can remember my family and I have taken a trip to Disneyland every single year. Growing up I would watch those Disney Channel shows like Lizzie McGuire and Hannah Montana. Getting Disney+ is one of the best decisions I've made! Should I have gotten it the week of 3 exams? Probably not, but I had to! 

Disney+ has all Disney movies, the classics, shows, Pixar, Marvel, Star Wars, and National Geographic. I just started the new show the Mandalorian which I believe is only offered on the app. I had a Pirates of the Caribbean marathon already, and just started watching the Even Stevens show. What a throwback?! I got the subscription for $70/year. They offer another subscription for Disney+, Hulu and ESPN+ altogether for just like $12 a month.

DISNEY SNAPPED!!!

Patron

My dad was born and raised in San Diego, so I was born and raised to like the Chargers and my dogs aren't an exception. Here's the Charger's newest running back, Patron Alberro #00:

Mac in IS101

Having a Mac in this class is not recommended because everything we are doing is on Microsoft which doesn't come with Mac devices unless you buy the apps. I got this laptop over four years ago so there's not much I can do but work with what I  got.

At the beginning of the semester I had a hard time with some of the module steps because it's more difficult to do it on a Mac laptop, but what I found out is that it IS possible to achieve almost everything on the Mac version, it's just a little harder. On all but one of the excel modules I've done so far I've been able get 100%!

Halloween

Every year for Halloween, and just about every other holiday, my family goes all out decorating the house. There's a contest every year in my neighborhood with money prizes if you win! Our biggest competition is our next door neighbor, if we don't win first, they do. We all dress up and have a little party where we make these spooky looking meals and drinks. Usually we go trick or treating but this year my youngest brother went with his friends so we took our dogs instead- they dressed up as pumpkins.

This year we didn't have all the time to set up as much as we wanted, but seeing the kids get so excited to trick or treat at our house and all the compliments was so nice! I love Halloween because of traditions my family does.

Word Exam

Last Saturday I spent almost six hours at school. If I told one of my friends this they'd think I was lying. I came in early to make sure I was eligible to take the exam and by the end of class I was. I took the exam right after class and after failing this first test twice in the past I finally passed it! I feel such a big weight lifted off my shoulders.

Catching Up

This past week has been like a full time IS101 job (if that were a thing). It's not the content that's difficult but my procrastination in this class has put quite a load of work on me. I put the hours in, although I should have put in even more.

I came to a couple hours early to get help with the steps I struggled with. Today by the end of class I''ll be eligible to take the first exam. I am so thankful Professor Wu is always here early and late. Not only would I still be way behind but I wouldn't have this much of an understanding of the material either!

IC3 vs Cengage

I was going to wait until I actually took the first Cengage exam to compare the courses but I will update more after I do so. So far in this newly formatted course it has been very straight forward and compared to IC3 the topics are a lot more focused on key things rather than a wide range of things we may not really need to know for the exam or in the real world.

IC3 had a lot to cover in each lesson and module while in Cengage its more like 10-20 steps. I would get a headache and have a hard time doing more than one module because it would be like 30+ steps. The projects weren't as straight-forward as these ones, but I think a big part of the confusion has to do with your instructor. Professor Wu is very hands on and takes the time to attend to every one individually. My last instructor didn't do much to clear up any confusion. This course compared to my last experience is a lot better and I haven't even tested yet.

My Second Year at CSN

I am already about a month into my classes, so I figured it's about time I made my second post. This is my second school year attending CSN, but because I failed this course one too many times I'm still considered a freshman. I recently declared my major as business and although I don't know exactly what I'm doing with this degree, it's nice to know what direction I'm going in.

I have never been someone really into academics, but most of the time I'll still pass with a B-C average. That's the main reason why I thought going to CSN would be the smarter way of approaching college rather than a university. Being here has improved my ability to learn and apply my skills more than any previous school has. Being in a classroom where everyone is reaching for the same goal (to learn and to pass the course) and a professor that is willing to stay extra hours and gives extra resources to help you succeed is a great environment to be in. There's a computer lab, library, writing center, free tutoring, and more. These resources motivated me to improve and succeed in any course I take on. 

Going into my second year at CSN, I have already improved my listening skills and possess way better studying habits. This class is one of the most challenging for me, but again, with the resources given and a professor there willing to work with me one on one, it would be almost harder to fail the course than pass. 

IS101 First Impression

This course IS101 seems pretty straightforward when looking at the requirements to pass. But after taking it my first semester at CSN I learned just how wrong that impression was. I failed the first time taking the course. Luckily this semester (a year later) I learned on the first day that the requirements were changed to focus the course on the more important aspects IS. Now, instead of three tests, pass all or fail, it's more reasonable to pass the class.

I could already tell by the first class in here that the professor really cares about helping each individual on what they need to be successful. He thoroughly went through the syllabus and briefly went over each assignment. He walks around and makes sure any confusion is resolved so we can stay caught up in the class. I already feel better about this class than I did taking it the first time.