Interests Overview

Below is quick list of the work samples found in this section. If you would like to view all my work samples, please go to the Work Samples section.

Video Games
Web Design

 

Interests

This section highlights some of my interests and how they have helped me gain interest and skills in information technology. Below, I give a brief overview of the interest and how long it has been an interest.


Computer Hardware, Software and Troubleshooting

I have been working with computers for roughly ten years now. In that time, I have learned how to format a hard drive (working with a variety of partitions and filing systems), install an OS, install drivers, and complete other troubleshooting tasks. Also, I have learned a lot about a variety of Windows, Mac and Linux operating systems, largely by researching these topics online, and through many hours of trial and error. Over time, I began working with Photoshop and Dreamweaver and other software applications for creating images and web pages. As I advanced, I began setting up networks both wired and wireless, learning about IPs, DHCP, DNS, security, etc. Eventually, I began learning about the hardware side as well. I have built a few PCs using a variety of different hardware components, including both AMD and Intel processors.

Most of these skills have been self-taught. I obtained these skills by researching and reading documentation in an effort to solve problems in which the answers were previously unknown to me. Through this research I was able to learn a lot about troubleshooting and picked up many valuable skills. The ability to do research and find an answer to a problem is a valuable skill that will help me in the ever evolving IT field.


Video Games

I have been playing video games for twenty years now and I can easily say it is my favorite interest. A lot of critics say video games are bad and destroy our youth. I completely disagree with that. Video games have improved my reading and writing skills and have boosted my problem solving skills. My favorite video game genre is role-playing games (RPGs). RPGs are story driven and rely heavily on character development and involve a lot of dialog that use large vocabularies. They are, in essence, interactive books. I have been playing RPGs since I was five years old, so I grew up playing games in which I had to read advanced dialog. Over the years, video games definitely increased not only my ability to read, but helped shape my written communication. Also, RPGs frequently include puzzles. Some puzzles involve math, while others involve moving shapes. These puzzles have without a doubt increased my problem solving skills.

Eventually, I began writing reviews for many of the video games that I played. These reviews taught me how to look at a game and analyze it. As I have gained new skills through my experience and education, I have learned how to make my analyses even more detailed. I have learned how to review these games more technically, breaking them down based on usability and design guidelines. These reviews have given me the opportunity to work on my writing skills. You can read some of these reviews below.

Samples


Web Design

Although I create websites for work (and created many sites for school), I also create a lot of designs for personal use. I started off by creating simple websites for myself and my friends. Creating these simple, personal sites helped lay the foundation for my HTML, XHTML and CSS skills. I feel the free time I spent creating these simple websites taught me a lot about design. These sites prepared me to learn more about web design in school. They also prepared me to work with design on a professional level. Now that I have had the opportunity to work with websites more at work and at school, I have picked up many new skills that will now make my personal websites even better.

Samples