Ryan Mason

During the short amount of time that I have been working inthe Information Commons, I have managed to learn a vast amount of information on ways to use technology than I thought I would ever be able to gain. I have also had a fascination with the ways that technology works, and always trying to figure out how they work on my own. Or search around on the internet looking up guides and videos and not stopping until I figured out how to complete the task that was at hand. Being a part of Information Commons has helped me build on my independence when it comes to learning new things by providing guides and videos to help me learn how to use programs I have never used, or even heard it, and be able to use them with a decent proficiency and has even helped when it comes to my school work as WordPress and DreamWeaver are both programs that are taught in a class that I am taking this semester. Be able to create a website in itself is something that I never thought I would be able to accomplish, but working with IC had really helped me see that anything is possible if you really set out and make a goal of it.

Although I have had a good amount of success of learning how to use new programs with the help of associates, guides, and videos, sometimes I would get to a point where I just was still confused with how to use a certain program. During the time that we were required to use learn how to use Access, no matter how many times I watched videos, got help, and clicked around in the program hoping that I would eventually figure out how to use the program, I still had problems with how it worked. But eventually my associate at the time (Michelle) asked another associate (Meg) if she could help write out instructions to help me complete the task. The document that she typed up really helped me a lot even though I was still confused about how some of the aspects of the software worked. I haven’t used access since we were assigned to learn how to use it, but I would like to try and go back one day and click around in the software for awhile to learn more about what all it can do, and to be able to have the knowledge of how to use another software even if it is at a more elementary level proficiency.

Advice to future IC student workers:

1. Don’t Be Afraid to Ask Questions: For some people, going into a new work environment where you don’t know anyone can be a little daunting to someone, but never be afraid to ask questions if you need help with anything whether it’s an associate or just another assistant. Everyone in IC is genuinely nice and caring, and any questions that you may have will get answered. Even if the person that you ask doesn’t know the answer, they will help you find someone that will no matter what it takes. Asking questions helps show that you are interested in what you’re doing, and you’re interested in learning how to do something that you previously didn’t have the knowledge about. So never be afraid to ask a question no matter how silly you might think it is because everyone in IC is always going to be there to help you succeed with your job.
2. Never Give Up: If you don’t have the prior knowledge of working with a certain software or piece of technology, you might hit a point where you get stuck and feel like giving up, but you shouldn’t. From personal experience, if you ever get stuck and you really want to figure out how to do something on your own without the help of someone, try clicking around and see where things take you because you will probably even figure out things that you didn’t know before while looking into the solution that you’re having. You should always give it a shot and see if you can learn the things on your own or even through a Google search if you’re determined to figure out how to do something, and should never give up and just go on to something else just because you’re frustrated that with figuring out how to do something. But don’t just click around for answers for hours to try to find your answer. If you’re having a lot of difficult, don’t be afraid to ask for help.
3. Find Your Niche: Everyone has as certain piece of technology that they are more comfortable with than others. Finding one that you’re most comfortable with will help you succeed a lot when it comes to working in IC. You’ll be able to help IC as a whole if you’re proficient in a certain software or hardware as they will be able to look to you for certain projects that need to be completed or helping out with various trainings. Helping with these will also help you hone your skills as you’ll always have chances to work with them and improve and add on to the skills that you already have. So don’t be afraid to find something that you love working with or seem to have a natural talent for as it can come in handy and can potentially open up many different and unique opportunities that you might have the pleasure of being a part of.

Working in the Information Commons has shown me that I am capable of being independent in a work environment. Being in my second semester as a junior, knowing that I have much time left before I graduate does scare me because I am afraid that I won’t be able to hold my own in professional work environment. But since working in the IC, I have seen in myself that I am able to come to work and start on my work for the day and usually get in projects and tasks completed in a timely fashion. I have also learned that I am pretty good at using DreamWeaver, though not the best. I had fun completing my website last semester despite some some hiccups every now and then, but in the end I was able to make a decent, yet simple website. And being in MS265 this semester, I was able to use my knowledge of what I learned to do in IC to help with a resume website that we are currently working on. It also helped me pass a quiz (17/20) over information I wasn’t in class to learn and that’s in a book that I did not buy (Awesome!).

Despite discovering some of my strengths and making some of them even stronger, I have also realized and was reminded of some of my weaknesses. One of my weaknesses that I have always struggled with due to personal reasons is the fact that I have problems with speaking to a group of people or even just recording myself and knowing in the back of my head that it is going to be seen. Being a pianist for most of my life and starting to perform for people when I was 12, I came to the realization that I do have issues with knowing that “all eyes are on me”. I’m not comfortable with knowing that the attention is all on me mainly when it comes to being the center of attention around people that I don’t know. And I know this problem has affected me at work due to always trying to avoid recording Panapto’s as it was something that I knew I would be extremely uncomfortable doing. But it is something that I plan on trying to work on so I’m not always afraid and uncomfortable about being put in a situation where I am the center of attention. Another weakness of mind that I noticed is that I’m not always sure of myself when it comes to answering questions. While working in the library, I was always asked questions about a lot of different things from just copying to where books are located in the library. And sometimes when people came up to ask me questions, I wasn’t one hundred percent sure of myself and would ask someone just to double check that I was giving the person the right answer. I need to work on going over things every now and then to remind myself things about the library more than I do so I will have more confidence when answering people’s questions, and maybe even gain more confidence in myself just as a person.

I have always had a passion for music and an interest in technology as my parents are both musicians and my sister and aunt are heavily into IT. The combination of the both eventually led me to major in Recording Industry Studies with a Business minor. Although I am better at information technology than I actually am when it comes to recording technology, having the opportunity to be able to work with both inside of class and at both of my jobs is amazing. I enjoy being able to learn as much as I can about any type of technology whether it be through music, computers, video games, or even cellphones. Knowing that the technology exists makes me want to try to have fun with it if I have the means to which I have been lucky enough to do such as rooting my cellphone and reverting it back to normal, and even modding a couple of handheld gaming consoles because I was bored. Having the access to a lot of different forms of technology drives me as it is, and I’m always willing to try anything once when it comes to technology even if it fails because in the event that I do fail and I feel like I’ve possibly broken something (such as unlocking an iPhone recently), I will work for however longs it takes to get things up and running again and take pride in my accomplishment.

• Checked profile and hours on Appointy
• Completed iMovie Quiz
• Watched TED videos on Moodle

• Talked to Michelle about potentially working on CAT Promo video
• Watched old CAT Promo video
• Looked over iMovie script
• Edited my WordPress
• Looked up Tech Facts

• Finished GarageBand QG
• Checked Folder Permissions and added name to the test files