Wrapping things up....

Well, what can I say? It's finally time to start wrapping the semester up. All group projects have been completed and turned in and I only have two finals to take next week! This is of course my final semester and I will be graduating in December. I can't believe this is finally happening. All of the hard work over the past few years are finally going to pay off. I'm extremely excited to end this chapter of my life and begin the next. Thankfully, I already have a job lined up as a IT Consultant at CGI. I start my new job in January! This has been a very challenging, but rewarding semester and I'm glad it has come to an end. Next thing on the list is visiting the family over Christmas break and enjoying a little time off before starting my new career.

Master the Mainframe

Over the course of this semester I have been competing in IBM's Master the Mainframe contest. I must say, this was one of the most challenging, but beneficial competitions I have ever participated in. I am a very hand's on learner and this challenge allowed me to interact with a mainframe and issue commands to the system to accomplish a variety of tasks and challenges. First of all, the contest is broken into three parts. The first part only takes about thirty minutes to complete and consists primarily of setting up the emulator to access the mainframe, logging into your account, and getting use to issuing commands to the system. The second part of the challenge is a lot more difficult and time consuming. I worked this part over the course of two months when I could fit it in between school assignments. In part two, I was able to submit batch files for processing, access the storage management facility, use IBM's OMEGAMON software to check system performance, execute programming code in multiple languages, create data sets and store files, and issue advance system commands. Unfortunately I have ran out of time to complete part three, which takes several months according to the website. The competition ends on December 28th, and all files have to be submitted for verification by that date. This competition was challenging, rewarding, and fun. I feel like I learned more from competing in this than I have learned in some of my college courses. I would definitely recommend this competition to anyone that is interested and doesn't mind getting their hands dirty while spending some serious time learning about Mainframes. By completing part two, I am able to submit my resume to the IBM SystemZ job board. This alone is worth the time and effort if you have any intentions of pursuing a career working with mainframes.

IT-oLogy Gateway Career Fair

IT-oLogy is a non profit collaboration of businesses, academic institutions and organizations dedicated to growing the IT talent pipeline, fostering economic development and advancing the IT profession. This past week, I volunteered to work at a Career Fair that was being hosted by IT-oLogy. The fair brought in multiple IT companies and recruiters that were looking to hire new employees, as well as offer internships. This was a great way for student's to connect with potential employers and learn about IT-oLogy as well. As a volunteer, I assisted with signing in guests and helped vendors set up their booths. I got to speak with a couple of employers as well, including VC3 and Verizon. 

The Future of E-Learning

Mobility and flexibility are the two words that come to mind when I think about e-Learning. The recent advancements in technology has provided a means to learn outside the classroom and an opportunity to engage other learners at any time of the day. Tablets and smartphones are the most prominent technologies that have had the largest impact on e-learning. Each are used by millions of people everyday, giving them access to online content and social media connections. It's hard to predict the future, especially when talking about technology, but if I had to guess I would say that traditional classroom learning will not be phased out anytime soon. Instead, I think that the technology advancements will just enhance the learning methods for students and professionals and will provide support for learning management systems. Other technologies such as HTML 5 will increase the amount of content that can be delivered on a mobile device and further enhance e-Learning's potential.

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2012 IT Graduation Dinner

Last weekend I celebrated my upcoming graduation in December with my fellow IT graduates, faculty, and staff. This dinner was hosted by Dr. Gerdes at his house. This was a great opportunity to catch up with friends and former professors. We got to talk about job opportunities, current semester projects, and future alumni events. It was also nice to hear about each students experiences here at USC as an IT major, and the direction they want to go after school. This was the largest graduation class for IT students at USC, and probably one of the best!

As part of my Capstone course this semester, I joined the Project Management Institute - South Carolina Midlands Chapter. As a member, I have the opportunity to attend local meetings and ceremonies with fellow project management students and professionals. Last week, I attended a PMI lunch at IT-oLogy and was able to work as a volunteer doing registration. I got to meet the president of the local chapter and sit in on the keynote presentation. After I finish my capstone course, I will have the opportunity to take the CAPM (certified associate in project management) test. It is one of the best certifications for a professional in the IT field right now. I think it's great that I can get this kind of exposure as a student. Everybody knows that professional networking is crucial to a successful career and I am getting more networking opportunities as a student in this degree than most people get in a lifetime. I am looking forward to future networking opportunities as I finish my last semester at USC. I'm excited to start a career after I graduate and I'm sure that the contacts I have made thus far will assist me in my future endeavors.

Carolina Tech Conference 2012

I was able to volunteer at the 2012 Carolina Technology Conference and Expo last week. As a volunteer, I assisted with the registration process of attendees, but I also got a chance to view some of the presentations at the Expo. One of the sessions I attended was speech about identity theft and social engineering by Jim Stickley. I have always been interested in security and I learned a lot from this presentation. Overall, I enjoyed the opportunity to be a part of one of the biggest technology conferences the South East. I leave you with this video clipping of an interview with one of the hosts of the conference, John Davis.