A Matter of Days

Well, graduation is here. It's been a long time since I posted, but hey, I've been busy! It's been a really crazy semester. However, just minutes ago I finished up my internship. The herd management program that I created was a really rewarding project. I still have several features to implement, but I knew ahead of time that I would likely not get everything done in a mere 216 hours. It's a fairly large application, at least from the perspective of one person creating it as their first major project outside of a classroom setting. I truly look forward to working on much larger scale projects as I begin my career.

As far as that is concerned, I believe the job search is going well. There are several opportunities out there and I have some positive discussions with more than one company. I hope to have something mutually beneficially turn into my first programmer career opportunity soon.

Classes went well this semester. I'm still on track to receive all A's and fulfill my goal of a 4.0 GPA upon graduation. It's been a bit of a whirlwind spending all my free time working on the internship and bouncing back and forth between the PHP, C#, VB, ASP.NET and JavaScript/jQuery languages. There are so many similarities to be found amonst all of them, but yet...not.

In the end now, I'm just so eager to apply my new skills and put all of my effort into a job with a company. I've waited two years for this (actually, much more than that if you count how long I've wanted to be a programmer) and I'm excited to get going. My last class date should be May 10th and then it's on to the working world again!

Is that a light?

The semester is already half finished. I've yet to get used to how fast the semesters can go at MATC. Graduation is right around the corner and I can see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Classes seem to be going well. I'm really enjoying learning advanced JavaScript and AJAX techniques. It's fun being able to know the type of things that help bring a website to life. While I kept my own website fairly simple by design on the initial roll-out, I wouldn't have minded added a bit more to it in terms of interactivity. I hope to be able to do that this summer once school is done.

I will also be busy finally getting to personal projects I've had my mind on. The first would be a contact database for my wife and I, as well as a video game and movie database for myself. I'd also like to create a few things that are interactive for the kids. Even if it's something as simple as a matching or memory game, it'll be fun for me to create it. And if I use pictures of the family, it'll be more fun for the kids.

The rest of school is going well also. I'm really enjoying C# and ASP.NET. In PHP we are going over frameworks and testing environments as well as version control systems.

The internship is going great and is lots of fun. I finally installed PHP, Apache and MySQL on the PC at my brother-in-law's farm so he can start to tinker with the program as it's in progress. It's finally started to take some shape of it's finished self, but also has a long way to go. I look forward to finishing it, either during the semester or this summer when the internship is over.

Next week is spring break at school and I plan to take the time to put a lot of hours into the internship, continue looking for full-time jobs (which I started last week) and build my first PC. It should be a busy week.

Champions!

Congrats to the Green Bay Packers! Admittedly I was anxious throughout the entire game, but in the end they came out on top. What an exciting game to watch.

School is going fine so far. I've turned in my first projects for all of my classes but one already. PHP, ASP.NET, AJAX and C# are all going well. And so far they aren't overwhelming me with their time commitment. This is good considering all my other free time is going into the internship.

I'm enjoying doing the internship. It's fun to put together all the different things I've learned over the past semesters into one large project. It keeps me learning as I gain more experience on how to plan a project and implement it. I keep realizing that only experience can teach me how to avoid certain pitfalls or see a bit further down the path than I currently can. I knew the project would be a large one, even though when describing it, it doesn't seem like there's really that much to it! The planning, coding, presentation, etc, all take a lot of time. And as it's my first real "large" project being done solely by myself, it's taking some time.

I'm also enjoying it because it's for my brother-in-law. Knowing that it will be useful to him and the things I am building will be tools he uses are of motivation as well.

As far as the more techinical side, I've decided to write the project in PHP on a MySQL database. There is also JavaScript involved as well as the standard HTML and CSS aspects. As I learn more throught this final semester, I will surely be implementing those things at the end.

While I'd preferred to have done the project in .NET, since I'd like to work in that environment after graduation, PHP provided me with the best option right now. I decided that if I no longer have the .NET tools available to me that I need after graduation, I won't be able to support this project in the future and I don't find that option acceptable. I can't guarantee that the express (and free) versions of Visual Studio will meet my needs. So that is why I'm going with PHP as everything I need (PHP, MySQL, Apache) should be free to use for the foreseeable future. We also do a lot less hands on coding in the PHP program at MATC, and I find this is a good way to keep my skills sharp there.

Classes are gearing up for their Project 2 topics now. Between working on those, I plan to keep plugging away on the internship (I have nearly 70 of the 216 hours required in already after week 4 of the semester). I hope to stay on track with my grades from past semesters and meet the internship requirements a few weeks before the semester is over (although I will continue to work on it until it is finished if it is not completed).

Goals

The new semester is right around the corner. I received an A in each class again last semester. That means I've got a full 4.0 going into my last semester. My goal is to hold that GPA until I graduate in May. I do not think that achievement will come easily, but I will do my best to earn it.

The winter break is rapidly coming to a close. This week is finding me spending a lot of time on my internship. I am creating a software program for my brother-in-law's farm. The program will track information for animals including their pedigree. A family tree, so to speak, will also be created for the animals. Based on their information, which includes monthly milk testing results, a variety of reports will be created. I've begun the planning stages by meeting with my brother-in-law and drafting up some Use Case diagrams and other planning documents. I plan to meet with him later this week to gather more planning information. I look forward to getting into the other stages including user interface and coding. Of course, I still need to do more research regarding if I will be doing the project in PHP using MySQL or in .NET and another database structure. As of now, I'm guessing it will be in PHP since I can easily obtain the tools once I'm no longer a student should I want to edit and/or maintain the application.

This brings up another goal. For the internship I need to put in at least 216 hours. I hope to have that accomplished a couple of weeks before the end of the semester. Since the work is for a member of the family, I can put in as much time as I need to when I need to. Hopefully this allows me to get the work done early. I plan to also support and/or add to the program after the internship is over also.

Everything else for the coming semester is nearly in order, including books, etc. I'm looking forward to learning more things. But I am also very anxious to apply what I have learned to real world projects, such as the one for my internship. I also have had projects on the backburner for personal use and cannot wait to get to those after graduation.

Spring Classes

In early November I was able to register for my Spring classes. They are as follows:

• IT Programmer/Analyst Internship
• AJAX and JavaScript Web Development
• Professional PHP Web Applications
• Web Application Development Using ASP.NET
• C# Programming In Visual Studio.NET

My C# class is going to be on the west side of Madison instead of at the Truax campus. This will be a nice change since the drive in will be shorter for me as it is my only class that day. And it will also be nice to see what that facility is like.

For those following my website (www.davidendres.com) and/or blog my remember that I was planning to take MATC's Ruby on Rails class. Over the course of the last semester I've decided to focus my studies a bit more and the .NET direction was the way I decided to do that. Although admittedly I did want to also get some mobile programming experience by signing up for Google Tools and Android Development, but that was not possible due to scheduling conflicts with other classes. I'm sure once I'm in the middle of Spring that I will realize that 15 credits is plenty anyhow! Besides, I can always come back for more classes after graduation.

Making Decisions

The semester is rapidly coming to a close. It's probably been my most challenging one so far. I'm looking forward to a few weeks off before starting up again in mid-January.

Over the course of this semester I'm finally realizing what I want to do after graduation. While I'm still open to just about anything I've been learning how to do at MATC, I'd most like to work with something in the .NET framework. I think there are several reasons for this. First, Visual Basic came fairly easily to me. Some of this is because of my prior experience with VBA in Excel which introduced me to a bit of Visual Basic, Object-Oriented programming and the editor environment as well. Second, I've really enjoyed working in the Visual Studio environment. It makes it so easy to see if you're making a mistake and structures your application in a nice visual way. I also like the ability to trouble shoot your bugs by stepping through code at run time. I know Visual Studio isn't the only environment to do things like this, but I've become comfortable working with it. One of the last reasons is just the intangibles. I've liked using Visual Basic. I look forward to learning C# and ASP.NET as well next semester. At some point I knew I had to make a decision and this just feels like the right one.

PHP is still an option for me though. I do like the flexibility and freedom the language seems to offer over .NET. And with more experience I can see it being a very powerful language for me.

I am also in the process of finding an internship for the Spring semester. I have started looking for part time jobs again. Ideally these would be in the .NET framework, but I would gladly work in any type of website creation or PHP environments too. I'm not restricting myself at all. Currently, I plan to create an application for my brother-in-law's farm for my internship. This is an application I will be creating regardless at some level for him, but the timing and scope will depend on my job search in the next few weeks.

The next few weeks are going to be busy ones, as always. The break will be a welcome one, but it will also find me busy catching up on my To Do list around the house, watching the kids, celebrating Christmas and gearing up for another semester.

Halfway Point

It's hard to believe it, but the first round of exams are mostly behind me. As always, they were very challenging. I still have to take the XML one and I'm sure that'll be just as tough.

I've gotten the second round of projects done and turned in for most classes also. As I've mentioned before, I really enjoy doing the projects. The projects are finally starting to get bigger in scope, which is great. For example, the latest PHP project had us playing a game of tic-tac-toe and storing the game to a database. Then we needed to be able to choose which game we wanted to replay and show a replay of that game, move by move.

The next round of projects has us building a shopping cart (PHP) and retrieving and working with data from a database (VB.NET). While we've been reading databases in PHP since last semester this is the first time we're really getting into doing that in VB.NET. It's similar, but different and I'm looking forward to it. While these projects are in many ways small in scope compared to those in the real world, they are definitely the types of smaller building blocks that we'll be doing someday on a professional level.

So far I'm still on track to keep my 4.0 GPA. It's getting tougher each semester though as the classes get more in-depth. It's my goal to keep that GPA until I graduate, but I know realistically it will be a tough goal to accomplish.

Last week was the IT Career Fair on campus. It was great to visit the booths of many of the areas companies. While several are not looking to hire programmers in the .NET or PHP areas at this time, it was still great to learn more about them and talk to their representatives. There were also some other companies that had potential positions and I look forward to talking with them more in the future.

It's getting to the point in the semester where there is no longer a clear busy period and then a lull. It's basically a fairly constant busy, yet manageable period. This should continue until early December when final projects are due and final exams come up. I can't believe how fast the semester is going, but I'm still enjoying learning everything they can throw at, so I guess that's a good sign!

Impressions

Now that I've completed the first four weeks of the semester I have a good feel for all of the new classes. I'm really enjoying my XML class so far. Not only is it easing us in to the topic, but in general I really like XML so far. I like how it is very particular about organizing and defining things. I think it is because it reflects part of my personality that I like it so well. Anyone who knows me, knows I like to have a place for everything and to be prepared well in advance.

My Object-Oriented System Analysis class is much of a logical continuation of last semester's UML class. This semester we take on a hypothetical case study. This makes us feel as though we are applying what we have already learned, which should be a great experience for transitioning to the work force as an Analyst.

We hardly skipped a beat going into the next semester of Visual Basic. It's amazing how much "rust" needed to be shaken off after just 3 months of time away from the language. But it all came back in the first day or two and it didn't take long to start learning new things. Each new thing is something exciting because I can start to see how all of this fits into a much large project. I absolutely can't wait to some day be part of a project with a much larger overall goal than the small projects we do in class.

Going back to PHP was much the same as Visual Basic. While I used PHP occasionally over the summer since my website required it, there were some aspects that I still hadn't thought about for the last few months. This also only took a short time to get back into and I feel the same way about seeing the larger picture of PHP projects. I look forward to the projects we will be creating later in the semester too, such as creating a shopping cart. It's these more practical, every day projects that make me feel like I'm getting closer to doing something that will soon be part of my career.

For those who have followed my blog very closely you will notice that I am no longer taking Linux Server. I decided to drop this class for Fall semester. It was not a decision I made lightly and I struggled over it for a long time. But I finally decided to narrow my focus just a little bit more at school. I felt the Linux Server class was getting me a bit too far off track by pulling me too much in a networking and administrative direction. In hindsight, while the decision was very difficult, I feel I made the right one. I also will likely not be taking Ruby on Rails in my Spring 2011 semester. Instead I will likely keep my focus on finishing up PHP and Visual Basic as well as taking a semester of C#. Next semester should also find me working my internship, and I'd really like to have adequate time to focus on that also.

It's hard to believe this semester is already a quarter over with. The first projects are due around this time for all of my classes. While the projects are always the toughest part of the coursework (except for maybe some exams), they are the part I enjoy the most.

Round Two

Today is the beginning of my second year at Madison Area Technical College. A year ago I was filled with excitement and wonder at what was to come. There were a lot of questions too. Mainly about what school would be like for me again.

This year it is once again exciting, but in a different way. I can see what is now ahead of me much more clearly and there is even a small "light at the end of the tunnel" now. It's far away, but it's there. Obviously, I'm referering to my graduation in May. While I'm enjoying learning, I am already anxious to take the next step and apply what I've learned at a job. I can't wait to become part of a larger team, whether it be a large programming department of some kind, or at a smaller company where I am part of the company as a whole.

This summer was a busy and rewarding one. My website is up and running at www.davidendres.com. I have a lot more recipes to add to that section of it, but it's off to a great start. I had hoped to work on other projects as well, such as some personal databases and games for the kids. Unfortunately time just didn't allow for it. My summer classes and watching both children full time kept me quite busy. I'm actually surprised at times I was able to create my website!

I'll update the blog again once I get some impressions of my classes for the fall semester. I'm particularly looking forward to advancing to the next level of programming in PHP and VB.NET as well as learning XML for website development.

Summer goes way too fast

I just realized that summer always goes by way too fast. It's hard to appreciate all of the good weather and to just remember to sit back and enjoy life once in awhile!

As always, summer has proven to be a busy one. Both of the kids are home with me this summer. It's great to be able to spend so much time with them. I doubt I'll ever get this chance again.

In June I took my first summer class, Job Search Preparation. I've had a few jobs since graduating from the UW back in 1996, so I didn't expect to learn much from this class. But I was proven wrong. I was glad to find ways to strengthen the layout of my resume and cover letter. I also discovered new ways of finding job listings. This is something that is always important in this economy.

I finished my Job Search class up in about 2 weeks instead of the 4 that it took place over, since we took a family vacation the last week of class. All four of us packed up the car and drove out to South Dakota to see Mount Rushmore, Crazy Horse, the Badlands, the Black Hills and many other local attractions. It was a great time!

This week I have started my second summer class, Dreamweaver. I think I'm really going to enjoy it. I've always enjoyed making websites and will really enjoy learning a powerful software that will help me make my websites even better.

I continue to make my own personal website via a text editor. Soon it should be posted at davidendres.com. I'm in the process now of putting the final touches on the look of the pages and loading many of our family recipes into the database behind the site. I look forward to what I feel is my biggest accomplishment of the summer once the site is first posted. I know I will be posting more recipes after it is initially posted, but the initial launch will be a major victory for me as a website developer. Getting the site organized and writing the PHP behind it took some time and was a great review of everything I've learned in my first year at MATC.

Let Summer Begin

The Spring semester is now over. I'm proud to say I got an A in each of my classes. It's always nice to know all of the hard work has really paid off. Not only do I have an "A" to show for my efforts, but I also feel that I've really learned something in each of my classes. And really, that is the most important reason to be in school.

I continue to work on my own website, time permitting. I am now a full time stay at home dad for the summer and I will continue soon with school as well for the Summer semester. So therefore, the progress on my website and other projects isn't going as quickly as I'd hoped, but at the same time, spending all this time with my children is definitely worth the tradeoff!

On a slight side note, I was able to be enrolled in the Linux Server class this coming fall, so my schedule has come together quite well. I am also keeping my ear open for possible internship possibilities for this Fall already, even though I don't have to do this until Spring semester. I figure the more experience I can have, the better.

Perhaps I'm being a little too ambitious, but I picked up a used book about programming games in Flash. It's a bit dated, but it should still teach me the basics. I love video games. I realize the opportunities to work in that industry in the Madison area are limited, but I'd still love to do some things on the side. If even just to entertain the kids with my creations. I have a few ideas rumbling around and hope I can someday see some of them materialize.

Spring,Summer and Projects...Oh My!

While Spring semester is still in full swing, the end is now in sight. As I've mentioned before, it's been a challenging semester, but a rewarding one as well. With each new thing I've learned, I've found there are practical applications I want to do on my own to use this new knowledge. Already I have some projects lined up for the summer.

But first, a recap of Spring's classes. As far as programming languages, Visual Basic.NET and PHP have both been great, but are very different experiences. PHP brings a more complete experience to me, as I can see how things are developed in the database end and then it through all the way to a website design. I find knowing that one person can easily and quickly write a website to be very rewarding. VB.NET on the other hand is quite different. The class seems to be a slower paced, more structured approach to development and seems to be more geared for a team environment. But the idea of working on project large in scope is an exciting concept. At this point I cannot decide if I like working with PHP or VB.NET any more than the other.

Learning SQL has been great. Not only is learning how to use Oracle good experience, SQL is very useful in my PHP class as well while working with MySQL databases.

Object-Oriented Design with UML has been useful in more ways than I had anticipated. Not only did it continue what we started in Intro to Database, but it taught us the concepts of OOD which comes in useful in seeing the larger picture of programming an application. It also has helped understand concepts in PHP and VB.NET. The last month of the semester is seeing us work as a group to form a website storyboard for a local company. Presentations start in a week and I think our group has been doing a great job.

Computer Hardware has been a very diverse class and covered lots of important topics. I will definitely be able to use that knowledge at home and in helping others.

I have signed up for Summer and Fall classes. They are as follows:

• Job Search Preparation (Summer)
• Dreamweaver (Summer)
• Advanced VB.NET (Fall)
• Advanced PHP and MySQL (Fall)
• Object Oriented Systems Analysis (Fall)
• Advanced Web Development XML (Fall)
• Linux Server (Fall) (On wait list since it is not a required class for me)

I'm looking forward to all of the classes. I hope I will be able to get into the Linux Server class as this will be very beneficial to me for PHP courses and potentially my career.

As I mentioned earlier, what I've learned in my courses has gotten me excited to do some projects on my own over the summer. I've been asked to create a website for a business a friend of the family owns. The goal is to have this project done by August.

I also plan to build my own website. I own the domain name davidendres.com (and daveendres.com). I plan to put both person and school/career information on this website. Many of the pages will initially be standard HTML designs. However, I do plan to use PHP to create a section on the site that displays family recipes. I will store the recipes in a MySQL database and family members (or other visitors) can search for recipes or look them up by name/category. I'm very excited to get this project up and running, but I know it will be a lot of work and require careful planning. I sincerely hope I do not run out of time this summer to do this project as it will be a good test of what I've learned in my first year here. Also, it should be very helpful to family members who need to find a recipe!

Finally, time permitting this summer, I plan to build a database of contact information. This will only be accessible on our home network but will likely be run with PHP and MySQL. Access is a secondary option. With the success of this database, I plan to also build one for our video game and movie collections at home.

I realize I have an ambitious summer and fall ahead of me (I will also be watching our children over the summer instead of them being at daycare), but I'm really looking forward to it.

It's a boy!

I'm proud to announce that my son arrived on February 23rd. He and his mother are doing well. His big sister is very proud as well. She has been doing such a good job as his big sister. I can't think of any moment being more rewarding than seeing a child brought into this world.

Things with school are still going fine, as I prepared in advance by staying ahead of coursework. I did miss one mid-term exam, but was able to make it up. I'm very grateful for the flexibility offered by my instructors the last week.

That's it for this update. More to follow in the next few weeks.

Spring Updates

After six weeks into the semester, things still seem to be going well. The pace is still pretty quick, but I am used to the pattern of how things are done in each class now. The first couple of weeks can always be a challenge just trying to find out each instructors pace and teaching style.

My first mid-term exam is tomorrow, February 23, in SQL. I feel well prepared for it and am anxious to take it so I can move on to the other mid-terms that are coming. So far I've been able to be off to a good start this semester in terms of grades, which of course makes me happy!

I proud to say I won the Jack Lussier Family Scholarship this semester. I am so thankful for people and organizations who are willing to help students make their way through college. Especially in these tough financial times.

But most exciting of all is the upcoming baby! My wife is due on March 2nd and my daughter is anxiously awaiting to see if she will have a baby brother or sister. Spring break is at the end of March and I'm sure the whole family will be glad to see dad have a break from school!

Another beginning

The spring semester has started. We're just over 3 weeks into it now. And wow, what a semester this is shaping up to be! The pace seems much faster this semester. The homework seems to be a much bigger load as well. However, I feel I'm keeping up and doing well. The following few paragraphs are my initial impressions of my five classes.

First, is Object-Oriented Design with UML. This class is picking up right where Intro to Database left off. Most of our discussion so far has been on how to take a user request and turn that into a database design. We are already into more complicated databases than last semester. I can see now how important those first building blocks were. This process is a challenge, but once I get more experience with it, I can see how rewarding it will be to set up a more complicated database. I already would like to set up some databases at home. Perhaps for a common contact list for the whole family. And an organization tool for our movies, my video games or my wife's crafts could also come in handy.

After OOD with UML, I have Intro to Visual Basic.NET. This is a course I immediately liked. Not only because of my love for programming, but also because the design environment is much like Visual Basic for Applications in Excel, which I have some experience with. So far, the course is coming quite naturally to me and I'm looking forward to surpassing what I had self-taught myself in the Excel environment.

My next course is Computer Hardware Essentials. While I don't currently have plans to have a career in IT support or building computers, this class is still very interesting. And I feel it will be a very important one. As a person in the IT field, I am already getting many questions from friends and family regarding their computers. It will be nice to be able to answer some of them, finally! But also, this is a great course to take for maintenance of my own computers. Depending on where I work some day, I may find myself in a role of not only doing programming or website design, but also being the IT support person.

SQL programming is another of my courses. I am definitely liking learning how to write database queries with Oracle iSQL*plus. The basics of writing a query were initially quite easy, but already, they are getting more complicated as we head into grouping statements. And I know there is much more to go. There is a lot of work into learning all of the different SQL statements, but it is a very rewarding experience.

My final class is PHP with MySQL. This class has introducted me to working with a Virtual Machine and Linux. I am glad to have the opportunity to work with these tools already. I've been in a Windows environment almost exclusively since the early 90's. I find the PHP language very similar to JavaScript in many ways, but also it's very different. I'm really looking forward to creating some projects with PHP and integrating it with MySQL. For this semester I have chosen to run my projects on my Windows XP laptop in Apache 2.2, PHP 5 and MySQL 5.0. Getting all of those programs set up and running correctly on my laptop was a challenge in itself and taught me many things regarding configuration files and .ini files. I may try IIS at a later date, although there shouldn't be much difference. This summer I may also upgrade to Windows 7.

The spring semester is definitely off to a running start. As mentioned, there is a lot more homework and the pace is definitely more accelerated than in Fall. However, I have been expecting this and have handled it well. I hope to be ahead of my work as much as possible when the baby arrives in another month or so. I am so excited to have another member of our family arrive!

Transition to Spring (aka Winter Break)

Well, the Fall semester is now behind me. I'm pleased to say I got an A in every one of my classes. I truly enjoyed the semester.

As mentioned in my last post, I'd like to briefly discuss the rest of the classes I took in Fall. First is Introduction to Database. This class laid some great groundwork in helping me understand how databases are set up. Granted, the ones we did for our projects were simple in comparison to any I have seen in a work environment. But as with most things, the basic concepts must be understood before complex databases can be build. I found it amazing how fast even the simplest databases started to get complicated. Just adding a few fields or tables of data create a multitude of new questions regarding the database structure. In my opinion, it takes a keen eye and a good mind for organization to keep a database working. I'm looking forward to taking these concepts to the next level in the Spring semester.

Next is the Website Development course with HTML. I was initially not sure how I would react to this course. But after only a few weeks with it, I immediately loved creating web pages. In this class we learned how to write HTML code in a simple text editor. Initially I used Notepad, but switched to Notepad++ halfway through the semester. I found it very exciting to be able to create web pages using HTML. I absolutely cannot wait to learn how to take my web development skills to the next level and learn how to make dynamic web pages that interact with both users and servers. This class was one of my favorites of the semester.

Finally, I also truly enjoyed my Introduction to Programming with JavaScript class. Not only did I enjoy learning about programming, but I also enjoyed using JavaScript. As with Introduction to Database, we only did what I consider simple projects. But again, these projects covered the fundamentals that will be the building blocks of everything else I do in programming. A lot of duplicate ground was covered with the programming class I took when I was at the UW. But I also learned a lot more than I think I did in that class. Especially the concept of creating algorithms and documenting code. I suppose some of that is attributable to that class having been taken over 15 years ago.

I also really enjoyed this class because I had one of the best instructors I've had in a long time. Eric Knapp did an excellent job not only of teaching the class, but also of providing valuable information on the programming career as a whole and on offering general advice on our choices at MATC. I felt I learned twice as much in this class as in any others and this may have been my favorite class of the semester.

The Spring semester starts next week. I'm ready to go! My books are all but packed in my backpack already. Spring will be more of a challenge than Fall, but I feel I'm ready for it. Not only will the classes be more challenging, but I will be on campus at MATC four days a week nearly all day. Mondays I will be there all day as well as staying for a night class. Also in Spring, my wife and I are expecting our second child. I absolutely cannot wait for our new baby to arrive! Spring is going to be a very memorable semester indeed.

I'll post again once the semester has started and I can offer feedback on the new classes.

Wrapping Up

The last month has been a busy one, as always. Life rarely seems to slow down to allow one to catch up with it!

Registration went fine for Spring semester. I was able to register for fifteen credits, or five 3 credit courses. My course schedule will be as follows:

1. SQL Database Programming
2. Object Oriented Design with UML
3. PHP Web Development with MySQL
4. Introduction to Visual Basic.NET Programming
5. Computer Hardware Essentials

I can't say for sure which class or classes I am looking forward to taking the most. I've found it's often the case when you are learning new things that you don't really know what you like the most until you're in the middle of it. So I guess time will tell.

The fall semester is wrapping up. I finished all of my online, 1 credit courses last week. I also have all course work done for my HTML Web Development and Introduction to Database courses. The remaining project is in Introduction to Programming, which I can't start yet due to the nature of the course.

I'd like to talk briefly about my three online courses. First is Careers in IT. This class was a very general one, but did touch on many aspects of the IT field. I found it useful to understand what other careers are out there, besides my own. It can be easy to get tunnel vision in an industry when you focus so much on your own courses and goals. I feel it is important to know the other areas since, in the end, they all tie together.

Second is IT Security Awareness. This course gave a great general understanding of various threats IT professionals (and all computer users) face. I found that not only was it a good course to learn about how to tighten security at a future job, it also will benefit what I do at home to secure my PCs and network there. Many things I learned I found I am already doing (secured wireless router, antivirus, spyware scanning, etc), but there is always a little more that can be done. The important thing is to stay on top of the latest threats and learn how to adapt to them.

My last online course was in Flash. While this course wasn't necessary for my degree, I found it a very welcome diversion from my other courses. This course required a different kind of creativity than some of my courses. A change of pace which I enjoyed. I've been told during other classes that Flash often can be the cause of many website problems. However I still found it an important skill to learn since Flash isn't going away any time too soon. It could definitely be a skill I'll need in the future, whether that be in creating something in Flash or supporting it's integration into a website I'm working on.

I hope to work on Flash projects for my family's use. My young daughter loves the Flash games she plays online. I hope to make some simple projects in my spare time between semesters that will entertain her and also help to keep my skills sharp. I will post here if I am able to find the time to do that project or any others.

Next time I post, I hope to have more comments on my remaining courses in the Fall semester.

Crossroads

Well, Spring registration at MATC is right around the corner. I'll be registering on November 9. This last week has seen a lot of me reading and re-reading various course lists. My main decision is which language(s) do I want to learn in addition to the core progam? At this point, I'm planning on taking both PHP and .NET. I had a feeling I'd be going this route all along. I'm very thankful for the opportunity to be able to take two languages (out of the three...the other being Java) instead of just one. I don't pretend to know everything about the paths these languages will take me down in the future. But my belief is that I will be prepared to help both small and medium sized companies. Perhaps even large companies, depending on their needs. I also feel I will be well prepared to quickly learn Java when and if the need arises.

I was also surprised to find out that I have room in my schedule should I want to take Ruby on Rails as well as Linux Server or Perl (part of MATC's LAMP Open Source Development Certificate). These classes would come in during 3rd and 4th semesters. From all I've heard of Ruby on Rails, this sounds very interesting to me and I'm eager to learn it down the road.

Of course, I'm the type that wants to learn everything offered, but of course there isn't enough time within a two year period. I'd love to learn Java as well as iPhone development in addition to .NET, PHP and Ruby on Rails. Perhaps I can learn these shortly after my two years at MATC are over. I know I'll be continuing to learn things the rest of my career, so maybe in two years, the outlook on what I want to learn will be different.

My next post will likely include my final preparation and thoughts on registering for next Spring.

Looking ahead

Well, this past week has been a fairly typical week at school. Homework and then, well, more homework! We also had our first exam in Intro to Programming - Javascript. I think the exam went well for me. We'll find out in the next few weeks how it truly went. Overall, the homework, while ever present, has been enjoyable. It's amazing how work can be fun with it's related to something you are really interested in doing.

But my posting for this past week isn't so much about what happened, but what's coming. On November 6 I will be able to register for Spring semester. I'm definitely looking forward to getting into more advanced territory with my education. However, I also need to choose a more specific path to go down. Having earned a bachelor's degree at UW-Madison, I do not need to take the general education courses at MATC. This has given me the freedom to take extra classes in IT. Many students in the same program as me will need to choose one programming language to learn between the three offered. Those languages are Java, PHP and .NET. Of course, the core courses will still be the same all of us.

I have the opportunity to learn 2 of these languages. Initially, I had considered learning all 3 as I was able to fit them all into my class schedule over the 2 year program. However, I now believe that learning only 2 of the languages will allow me to focus more intently on them. I want to avoid what the old saying, "Jack of all trades, master of none" implies. I want to go for depth, not breadth. This will also allow me to keep some room in my schedule should I decide to take other electives based on my interests over the next 2 years.

At this point, I am leaning towards both PHP and .NET. I still have that nagging voice in the back of my mind telling me to learn all three, but I think the prudent choice is still to "only" learn two. I can always go back later, and earn a Java certificate. I'm also left with the option to learn only one of the languages and take the iPhone development courses offered by MATC in place of a second language. While I currently don't own an iPhone, I definitely understand the trend towards programming for mobile devices.

So I have some tough decisions to make in the next week or so. I plan to meet with my IT advisor this week to help me in this choice. This field is so interesting to me, that I wish I could just learn all of it. But I have to remind myself to be patient and to learn one thing at a time! There is no reason not to keep learning once my two years here are complete. I guess the main thing to consider is what do I want to do in this field and not worry so much about what I think others will need me to do. That will benefit myself and my future employer the most in the long run.

Thanks again for reading. I hope to have more insight into my career choice next time.

The Beginning

Welcome to my blog. Admittedly, this is my first blog, but I figured it was time to embrace one of the more recent advancements on the internet and give it a try.

The focus of this blog will be on the professional side of my life. Currently, I'm a student at Madison Area Technical College in Wisconsin. This fall is the first semester of my two year degree, which is in the Computer Programmer/Analyst program.

Computers have always been a central focus for me and a source of great entertainment and education. I can remember back to when I was probably 9 or 10 years old. My cousin had a computer in his house, which was pretty unheard of at the time, especially in our area. He showed me how there was a programming language on the computer, called BASIC, which allowed you to write a program and then run it. Granted our programs were simple, but in short, you could make the computer do what you wanted! I was very taken by that idea and it left a long lasting impression on me.

In high school, I finally got to have a formal class on the BASIC language, which I really enjoyed. A few years later, I was at UW-Madison in a 4 year program earning my bachelor's degree in Accounting. I had the opportunity to take another programming class and the language taught at the time was Pascal. Again, I thoroughly enjoyed the class and was thrilled at the possibilities of what one could do on a computer. I briefly considered changing my major after that class to Computer Science.

After college, I earned my Certified Public Accountant license. I've always enjoyed numbers and received a rewarding feeling for keeping things in balance from an Accounting perspective. However, over the 15 years I spent as an Accountant, I always thought back to those days I considered changing my major at the UW. I tried to get my programming or computer "fix" by getting into the more technical side of accounting. Things such as Financial Reporting, databases and most of all, Excel spreadsheets. I learned everything I could about Excel in seminars, but it wasn't enough. I felt the need to do more.

Over the years I taught myself Visual Basic for Applications at a basic level. In 2008, I created Endres Data Solutions, LLC to provide Excel services to my customers. Endres Data Solutions, LLC was intended at first to be a side business with the hopes of things taking off and some day becoming a full time job.

Early in 2009, I received notice that I would be laid off in the fall. As usual, my thoughts drifted back to being a computer programmer. I finally made the decision to go back to school and earn that degree. I must add, that I received tremendous support and encouragement from my wife on this and couldn't have done it without her.

Changing careers will most likely be putting an end to Endres Data Solutions, LLC, but in the end it is for the best. Instead of getting my computer "fix" as a side business, I get to do it full time. This is what I've truly always wanted.

So here I am, in my first semester at MATC. Every day I am thankful I made the decision to do this. I'm loving the classes. The homework has sure picked up, but it is definitely worth it.

My initial plan with this blog is to make regular updates regarding school and other things related to my career change. I hope you keep reading as I keep learning and discovering new things.

Thanks for reading!