A Little About Myself
I moved from Virginia Beach, VA to Sacramento in 1999. I was a jeweler/goldsmith for nearly 30 years - a profession I really loved. I owned my own store front for nearly 10 of those years, did the craft show circuit, and sold wholesale to other stores. I eventually burned-out on a career that had been so rewarding, so along with the move, I decided to change my career. I had a second passion and that is computers! I got my first computer in 1986 and taught myself how to use it. My first actual computer class was at American River College (ARC) in Summer 2001. I love the community college environment and I just knew I wanted to work here at ARC, so I made that my goal. I first became a tutor, then a temporary Instructional Assistant (IA), then a permanent IA. I continued my education (very late in life, so I am a living testament that it is never too late), and now I am full-time faculty who teaches teachers how best to use technology for education and I am also teaching various computing courses to you, my students.
My Computer Experience
Throughout the last 33 years I have worked and "played" with computers. When I bought my first computer, all I wanted to do was take it apart and I wasn't all that interested in learning how to use applications. I really liked games, though. Pong, anyone? Eventually, I applied myself and used computers for bookkeeping, payroll, and even a customer database. I do love to learn how to use new digital tools that help us all learn and of course, I love the Web. Creating meaningful content for the World Wide Web is our goal in this class!
What I know about the Web and web publishing
I took my first web class, this very class, at ARC in the summer of 2001. It is invaluable if you want to be a good web developer and maybe even work as a webmaster. There are so many "quickie" website creating tools, but really learning HTML and CSS, the basic programming languages for web development and design, means you can make your pages look and behave exactly like you want them to. When I took the class, my final project was a website that I created for my sister's boss at the time who ran a nanny agency. I got an A in the class and made $300.00 to boot! Since then, I have learned Dreamweaver, and other web authoring tools, but I always need my HTML knowledge to make those pages look just right.
My interests and hobbies include:
- Fishing on the Outer Banks of North Carolina
- Spending quality time with friends and family
- Learning new technology tools
- Exercising