Progress and Setbacks

Not many of my long-term goals flow exactly according to plan.

I did not reach my December 1 deadline on learning all the necessary skills for Digital Media careers, which further proves how difficult it can be to learn everything on your own.

Plus, I have reached a dilemma: I have searched the Internet and books for the most simplistic, step-by-step tutorials for MySql. As far as I can tell, none exist.

The problem derives from the fact that the one of the best MySql tutorials I have come across teaches me how to run MySql from DOS, and I would like to learn how to run it from an offline server. Even worse is the fact that all of the other good tutorials seem to start teaching you how to build databases only to jump ahead 4 steps and expect you to have a specific database already built with specific data already added to it, then to take this non-existing data and code a PHP page to post the data. That is very frustrating. Therefore, I would rather meet with a tutor for about 2-3 hours one day and ask all the necessary questions until I am certain that I can work with MySql without anyone's help.

Which reminds me: I have been making a habit of making arrangements to meet with people one day for "X" amount of hours for anything I need to learn. Prior to meeting with these people, I brainstorm every single question I need an answer to (or think I need an answer to) so that I won't need to return to them for more answers anytime soon. The person may seem a little impatient when it turns out you have a huge list, but that is a natural reaction that you cannot avoid. As long as you approach the person professionally and with courtesy, they will not feel irritated because you are clearly reducing the questionnaire session into one meeting.

It's only if you contact them repeatedly with more questions that you irritate them, though there is a limit. You should be able to read each question consecutively in one minute. If not, then you do need to try to answer as many of those questions as possible without anyone's help and only ask the most challenging questions.

Also, if you had, say, 15 questions as you started learning a program/skill and 15 more after you finished teaching yourself, that is also acceptable because in the eyes of your teacher: You have taken the time to apply the answers they gave you and taught yourself how to use the program/skill, and now, you're only having trouble understanding some of the advanced skills. That is to be expected, and teachers appreciate it when you can take the time to do the work before you return with more questions because: 1. Enough time will have passed since the last meeting for the teacher to not feel burdened by your request to meet again. 2. You have proved to the teacher that their efforts to help you were not a waste of their time.

As a tutor, I understand how frustrating it can be to spend sixty minutes of my valuable time teaching a program to someone only to see at our next meeting that the person has not applied those skills. I admit, I am guilty of the same habit, but I broke that habit after disappointing my mentor during my last term in college. No matter how busy my life becomes, I always make sure to meet all deadlines for projects, that I never overburden someone else with my problems, that I never waste someone's time when I need help, and that the people that help me do not devote time to me in vain.

Now, with everything I have learned so far, I am finalizing my resumé and portfolio. I have no idea when I will be finally ready to begin the job search, but I will definitely not begin until I know I am qualified. My only obstacle will be to work around the 3-5 year experience requirement, since I only have less than a year of internship experience.

In the meantime, February 1 will be a checkpoint for me. I hope that by then, my resume and portfolio will be ready to go, even if I am lacking one or two skills.

I begin my future

Back before I graduated from a four-year university, I spent my last term completing senior projects, one of which involved learning all the skills employers need from college graduates in my field. . . Digital Media.

The courses I took in order to gain that degree were a toss of the coin -- either an extremely difficult and tedious subject that I will never apply to my future career (in other words, a "necessary" prerequisite for the classes I needed) or an extremely exciting subject that taught me everything I needed to know in one skill or computer program (or both).

The internship experience I gained from the Digital Media program is lacking. The first internship I was accepted into lasted exactly one month, and I was never allowed to do anything productive. The second one was not well organized. I was never given an adequate amount of time or instructions on my assignments. As a full-time college student, I had the right to time management. I should have been given a schedule based on my class schedule.

I think the concept of an "internship" has been thrown out the window for many employers. Companies that seek free labor or fully-trained, fully-experienced employees need to look elsewhere. Now, if they are truly seeking an intern, they are seeking an individual who has spent the last 4+ years with their free time consumed by tedious, infinite projects and needs to know how to apply the knowledge from these projects. These individuals need a demonstration on how a logo, brochure, magazine layout, and website are all designed. If they are like me, they need to be first redirected to a mentor who can teach them all the software and techniques that they were not taught in their college program. They also need time to learn. Forcing an intern to RUSH RUSH RUSH through a program that they are just learning (for any job project) is self-defeating. College gave them time to learn; the internship should be no different.

There is a difference between being fast-paced in computer programs/skills you have full experience with and ones you have barely used in your life. Nothing will ever be learned if the student must rush through the training. I know this first-hand from my first internship.

I was lucky enough to have a mentor during my last term in college. Unfortunately, I still have not learned EVERYTHING and need to hurry up and do so. Time is running short, and I need to have a career started by December 1.

Fortunately, I was hired as an intern for a friend's business as the Web and Graphic Designer of the company, soon to be the complete Web Developer. I am training myself in web programming during office hours, and as a true intern, I have this luxury.

I am also leaving myself open to any design opportunities. I am currently the Supervisor for a Business Student's financial project. I designed her logo and brochure cover, and I am available to review the work of her other designers at her discretion.

I will become fully educated in my field. I will become what these companies have been searching for.