Introduction

NOTE: All views are my own, and should not be taken seriously. At least that is what the voices tell me. All characters, perspectives and seriousness are purely unintentional and will not stand up in a court of law (just like this disclaimer).

We’ve had two classes, so I’m not sure I’d call this a real introduction. Perhaps a warning of the potential peril that sits betwixt you and the door? My name is Bill Schmidt. I earned my A.A.S in Drafting/CAD Technology from Lewis & Clark Community College a couple years ago. Worked for quite a while for an engineering company in the energy industry. I left there and got my Associate’s in Computer/Network Technology from LCCC. Spent a few years taking care of my wife as her health went haywire. She’s better, so here I am. I was originally majoring in Computer Sciences, but alas, Calculus was my downfall. I understand the theories and operations, I just can’t complete them in the short amount of time given. Long story short, English Major, with Minors in Creative Writing and Computer Sciences. My Minors are complete, I just need to complete some requirements, and I’ll be escaping next December.

For all intents and purposes, I knew nothing as to the content of the course when I signed up. Technology? Too many years experience to mention without feeling old. Suffice to say, I bought 8 Megabytes of RAM when it cost three hundred dollars. Literature? I love reading. I’ve been reading since I was a wee lad. Sadly, the only time in the last several years I’ve had to read has been for assignments. Tech & Lit? Cool. Learning more about what all is involved and the potential uses just makes the class more appealing to me.

My one quandary about the class. Why? Why does Digital Humanities even exist? No other field has such an off-shoot such as this, that I know of. The medical field has the most to gain from the use of technology, but they just use it as needed. Is there a Digital Engineering field? Bah. That’s just Excel spreadsheets and Finite Element Analysis programs. Is it not enough to sit, <insert favorite coffee derivative> in hand, expounding a personal interpretation of Kafka’s Metamorphosis and its intrinsic implications of modern society amongst peers? Nah. Let’s do it online! I’m looking forward to the class. I hope, with my background, I can bring something unique and beneficial to the class.

I like the experimental format of the class. The subject doesn’t lend itself to a structured grading system without being unfairly harsh to students that aren’t familiar with certain topics we’ll be going over. The learning contract is something I’m not thrilled about. I’m not very comfortable with setting scholastic goals for myself. I am my own harshest critic, and will probably be harder on my progress than necessary. Can  I put 100% into Tinkering??? Remember, if all else fails, F1. That won’t work if you’re running in a browser, though.

I don’t mind group work as much as I used to. I’m usually quiet and reserved, but when it comes to a topic I’m interested in, I become more talkative. I have found that in English classes, the group members take more responsibility for their share of the work and the resulting projects are done rather well. It’s not like Computer Architecture when [ REDACTED ] changed 90% of his portion of a 7,500 line program 3:00am the morning before it was due. I try to get my group work done soon after it’s assigned. I’d rather not wait til the last minute get things done. Communication is the basis for a group project. If the group doesn’t know how other members are progressing, concern and fear set in.