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Holy moly! Busy weeks ahead!

Howdy fearless readers! :o) If you celebrate Thanksgiving, I hope you had a great turkey day weekend! I, true to my word (see previous entry, aka: laundry list of homework to do), have come back to you with completed projects. Ok, so most of the time when people like yourselves are checking out the program, a very common question is:

Just what the heck do students actually DO, though???

Well, I finished the quick and dirty version of my online portfolio using a UM online website creation tool called Sitemaker. You can see my online portfolio here:
http://sitemaker.umich.edu/maw.portfolio

This portfolio includes work that is totally from the past year and a half (just about) at SI. The only exception is my photo portfolio which comes from my undergrad days as an art major. The reason I included the photo portfolio is because a lot of the jobs I am looking at have a big creative component to them, so anything I can use to demonstrate my art foundation is a plus. Everything you see, though is about to updated. Yes, updated already! You see, the end of the semester is upon us all here in Ann Arbor; ergo, I have lots of soon-to-be-finished projects on their merry way.

One such example will be a movie file version of my Powerpoint presentation on public personality rights for my intellectual property law class. I just gave my mini-lecture last night, actually, and it was a ton of fun! I really enjoy public speaking--I think it's way more fun to engage people by telling them a story. I am a big fan of using cool images and talking about them instead of putting text up on a big screen and reading it for them. My prof sent me some feedback and had some awesome things to say, so I'm excited about that. I'll be expanding upon my thesis proposal (which you can read via my portfolio) in this class by examining legal cases to support my theory. All of this has made me think again about possibly getting a PhD at some point. I don't think that will happen for a while though--I really want to work in the "real world" for a while and see how the entertainment industry actually functions. If I'm content there, I'll stay. But if I can't stop thinking about working on my proposed theory, I might just have to consider a doctoral program. It would be interesting, that's for sure! I grew up in an academic household (my dad is a just newly retired college professor) so the flexibility of an academic life is definitely appealing to me.

Yesterday morning I also submitted a "research consultation" report for my library reference class. I researched a question given to me by a "client" and provided resources with a full analysis of the process. The question was super interesting--I have a friend who recieved an evil eye charm from someone currently living overseas where the pendants are commonly found. She wanted to know about the history and folkore as well as what the practical applications of such a charm would be. I found books, serials, and website resources to help her in researching her question some more. This report was a bit tough to get done, though. The library's online catalogue had some problems over the weekend which really slowed me down in finishing my project and it also affected my bibliographic management tool. Needless to say, I didn't exactly sleep much on Monday night so that I could make sure my paper was polished and ready for submission by 9am on Tuesday. And then a presentation in the evening. Talk about being tired... Last night I slept for 10 hours--heavenly bliss! :o)

Today I spent the majority of my waking hours in the DIAD--that is the computer lab reserved just for us SI students. It's also the lab that saved my sanity when my laptop had a half-death not too long ago. I will be spending quite a bit of time in the DIAD for the next couple of weeks while I finish a database-backed website for my class called Design of Complex Websites. We are programming in Ruby on Rails which is an object oriented programming language but much more succinct, elegant, and intuitive than older languages like Java (I did this one last semester and it just feels so clunky to me now!). The reason I am working in the DIAD, as opposed to my laptop in the comfort of my very cozy apartment, is that my laptop runs on a Windows operating system. However, the Rails environment lends itself much better to a Mac, so I go to the lab instead. Sometimes that is tough when I have so much to get done and I'm tired and I'd like nothing more than to just go home and relax a bit. But it's working out alright. My half-way point final project check-up is due at 10am Thursday so I got it done tonight. The good news is that everything is up and running. The bad news is that I have a whole heck of a lot of work to do on the visual asthetics, not to mention getting all of the data up and running! Definitely have my work cut out for me...

On Monday nights I have library cataloguing and we got our take home final exam this week which I haven't had a chance to start yet. I'll be working on that tommorrow when I get home from working at the Knowledge Navigation Center in the graduate library (we provide media and application instruction/assistance). It's due by noon on Saturday so I still have some time left and luckily it's not very difficult or overly involved. For that class, the most important thing is the final project and paper. I'll be trying my hand at cataloguing animated graphics which I'm very excited about! That project will be replacing a stand-in website design that is currently on my portfolio (the current version features photos of my adorable cat, Pablo Kitty -- as I write this for you, he is sprawled on his back in front of my gas fireplace :o). This cataloguing project will be a great piece to show to prospective employers in the coming semester, especially at entertainment companies.

Other than all of this (ha! is that possible???) I solved a website design and legacy problem for the Special Libraries Association (for which I am an executive board member). It's not totally done, but it's connected to the SI website now and looks so much better! Plus, the next board will be transitioning into their positions in March after we have elections at school and transfering the site will be as easy as adding new user names. How cool is that? :o)

I've also been transitioning a couple of endings. Alas, all good things must come to an end at some point... The first thing was that I had to resign from my exec board position as the PR chair for the UM Ballroom Team. I just don't have time for it while job hunting and finishing my coursework next semester and won't be able to take lessons and compete at the same time so it made sense. And at SI, I'll be phasing out my position as a student assistant in the career services office because we just brought on a new full-timer! She starts on Monday next week and I think it's a great thing, even though it means I won't be working in the office anymore. But our student population is so active, that it will be helpful to SI to have another full-time counselor on staff. The best part about my career services job was that I got my resumes totally polished and mastered the art of networking and writing cover letters. It's definitely benefited me which is great! Next semester I'll be working more hours through work-study at the KNC in the graduate library which will be cool because I often proctor instructional class sessions in the Faculty Exploratory across the hall so I get to learn new software programs and get paid for it at the same time! :o)

At this time of year, I actually make a very pointed effort to carve out little nuggets of relaxation time. Since I'm on the go so much, these activities sometimes don't sound all that "relaxing," but to me they are! For example, I have been baking muffins for classes (we often have food lists) and at this time of year, everyone is always tired and hungry (and therefore grouchy) so I like to not only bring a snack for myself but also feed a few other people which makes things more enjoyable. I also tend to cook for my friends--I have a couple of friends who help me out with all sorts of things and in return I feed them, which they absolutely love! I make Asian dumplings ("pot stickers") from scratch, and I literally 'pay' one of my friends in dumplings for things like giving me rides home after evening classes so that I don't have to pay for parking. She used to alter my ballroom dresses and I always 'paid' her in dumplings so it's become a tradition!

And I'll probably have to stop doing this after tommorrow because winter is finally arriving in full force this weekend, but I've been getting exercise by walking to and from school. Each way is about 3 miles and it's been really nice to do--ironically, it only adds about 15 minutes of travel time compared to riding the bus (students get to ride the buses for free here in Ann Arbor). On Monday I got to meet a most adorable daschund puppy out for a walk with his owner. :o) Who knows? Maybe I'll keep doing it through the winter as long as it's not too cold and windy (I have asthma so cold air makes breathing difficult--now do you understand why I'm looking at the West Coast for jobs? :o).

Hmm... it would seem that my motor-typing catharsis has come to an end here... Just remember that if you send me an email, to include a subject line that says "Questions about the School of Information" or something similar--otherwise, my email spam filter will probably filter your message out and I'll never get it and that would be unfair to you. You can send questions to me at maryaw@umich.edu. I hope you all have a good week and I'll be writing more before the semester ends to tell you about all the projects and other exciting news! Until next time...

Posted by maryaw on November 29, 2006 at 11:49 PM | Comments (0)

Gobble, gobble!

Howdy, fearless readers!
This is a short week, being a holiday week -- so, I thought I would tell you about my life as a student at this time of year. Due to Thanksgiving, we only have half a week because our annual turkey day falls on a Thursday every year so we get a four day weekend. Normally I would go visit my parents (they live just over an hour away from Ann Arbor) but they are currently living and traveling overseas. I've had no less than five invitations to join people for Thanksgiving turkey dinners. However, this year I've chosen a different route.

As you've probably read in previous entries, it is officially 'crunch time' here -- 'tis the season and the point in the semester when all major class projects come due! Given the fact that my family is all far away (my sister also happens to live many states away), and even my boyfriend lives a few hours away, I decided to use the long weekend as a great excuse to get a ton of work done. Now, before your dubious panic ensues, dear grasshoppers, know that this is an atypical year for me. If you're not from the States and are not familiar with the American tradition of Thanksgiving, it's basically an eating holiday. Not that I'm complaining though... I have my own kitchen roaring to go with a roast chicken and baked apples wrapped in pastry. :o)

So, what do I plan to work on this weekend? Well, here's my list:
-Library cataloguing final project
-Library reference research project
-Intellectual property law class final paper (research it)
-Prepare for my intellectual property law class presentation/mini-lecture (I have to give this on Tuesday next week)
-Continue plugging away at my complex websites course final project
-Catch up on a whole ton of reading

and, for personal work:
-finish getting my portfolio up online
-design and create the template for my sister's new business website
-oh, yeah, and the rest of my life :o)

Yes, I have enough on my plate, for sure! And I'm not just talking turkey... There's only 4 weeks left, though, which means that I'll be able to enjoy some downtime soon.

In other news, I enrolled for Winter 2007 semester classes yesterday afternoon. I'll be taking my outside cognate in the film department which I'm really looking forward to taking. For now, I'm officially enrolled for 4 courses (12 credits) but might cut that down to 3 courses (9 credits) for a couple of reasons. One of the courses is quite technical, but I think I might not need that. I also am still working on figuring out how much time I will need to set aside for things like job hunting. However, I just interviewed in the first round with a really awesome career opportunity at the end of last week. I'll be finding out if I made the second round after turkey day.

Ok, fearless grasshoppers, time to jet! I'll keep you updated on all the projects I do as they come to completion and maybe I can share some with you too. If you're of the turkey type, I hope you have a great holiday weekend!

Posted by maryaw on November 21, 2006 at 10:41 AM | Comments (0)

Crunch time

Hello, fearless readers! It's been far too long since my last entry... As the title of this blog entry suggests, it is officially "crunch time." That is our affectionate name for that lovely time of the semester when we are in full-speed-ahead mode working on multiple final projects and juggling all sorts of things at the same time. Well, I'll talk more about this in a minute. But first things first:

Connect with SI has come and gone and wow! What a turnout! We had a lot of people come and check out our school which was pretty cool. Everyone had great questions but the one thing I noticed as a thread that ran through both events was that it is difficult to really understand just how flexible the program is and just how many options there are with an MSI degree for a career. There is only so much that can be described--that last little bit of the ah-ha moment comes once you get here. With that said, never fear dear grasshoppers! I will describe to you some examples of flexibility at SI in this blog entry...

In fact, let me recount a very spirited discussion I had with a first year student this week. We were talking about how many choices you have as an SI student and that in a way, that is the most difficult thing as a student here. It really requires you to be on your toes and take full responsibility for your education and career path. But I think it's a wise choice on the part of the school because we're all going to have to do these very same things upon graduation back into the "real world" so why hold our hands all the way through? Almost everything is offered with a choice. Including...

Faculty advising. So, if you can believe it, we're already to the end of the fall semester. I have an enrollment appointment on Monday afternoon! Holy moly... time sure flies around here... Last week I met with multiple faculty members for advising week. When you get to SI, you are assigned an advisor at orientation which is based off of the general interest area presented in your application package. However, you don't have to continue seeing that person if you don't want to. SI has an open advising policy which allows you to choose and pick who you want to talk to and how many people you want to seek advising from. I chose my faculty advisor after taking a foundation course for which he was a co-instructor. I was having trouble writing a good academic paper after being out of school for a while, so I went to his office hours to get some help and discovered that he really understood what my goals were. More so than my original advisor at orientation. So I switched. Easy as that.

There are no hard feelings at SI if you choose to see someone else. I get most of my advice about courses and career stuff from my main faculty advisor but I also consult with other faculty each semester based on courses I'm looking at taking. This semester I have talked with 2 people in-person and emailed 2 people for more input. I have also talked with other students for their impressions about classes, professors, projects, etc. Sounds great, eh? But it's hard too! You have to ask really good questions and have an idea of what you're looking to achieve. Ergo, choice is hard.

Ok, so "crunch time" -- why so crunchy, you ask? Well, aside from 3 jobs and a full course load, I'm really starting to get into my job hunt. In fact, some of my early work is already paying off. I have a phone interview with a major company on Friday afternoon and if this part goes well, the next phase involves them flying me out for in-person interviews. I have also been putting my portfolio up online for another application that is asking for an online portfolio. I'll be glad when the Holiday vacation break gets here! But it will undoubtedly be entirely too short...

Well, fearless grasshoppers, I must sign off for now. Stay tuned for future updates about end-of-semester projects and I'll be sure to tell you all about the work I've accomplished this semester! It's unbelievable how much you can get done in just 4 months...

Posted by maryaw on November 15, 2006 at 11:41 PM | Comments (0)

Technology: can't live with it, can't live without it

Oh, boy... this week has been dominated by technology woes. My laptop's powercord/AC adapter has been suffering a slow death and it finally died on Monday during lecture for library cataloguing. Luckily, I was able to procure just enough electric juice to pull out a few urgent files and back them up on my flash drive. Thankfully SI has its own computer lab (dual PC/MAC at each station) with printing so I pretty much lived there all week. Inconvenient for me, yes. But back-up plan in the lab worked out fine. Just thought I'd share that lovely story with you this week. :o) I'm very tired though... 'tis the season. And tech woes didn't help much, but at least the weekend is here (short as it will be by the time it flies by). The next Connect with SI event is coming up next weekend--I'll be summing up both of the open houses when the second one is finished. Hope you all have a good weekend!

Posted by maryaw on November 02, 2006 at 10:22 PM | Comments (0)