Burdened by years of debt, alcoholism and depression, Jazz Age author F. Scott Fitzgerald came to the sad conclusion that "there are no second acts in American lives." Nearly three generations later, the late blooming author Frank McCourt would prove him wrong by saying that Fitzgerald did not achieve his second act only because "he did not live long enough to see it." McCourt's second act came in his reinvention as a best-selling author after a long first career as a high school teacher. It is my hope that a new livelihood forged from a combination of my artistic background and my new information science skills will be my second act.
After receiving my Bachelor of Science in Studio Art from Nazareth College of Rochester in 1994, I embarked on a 14-year odyssey that led me from Western New York to the Deep South and back again. For more than a decade, I worked at four newspapers in three states as an information graphic artist. Armed with good drawing skills, quick thinking and a sense of adventure, I illustrated many subjects from the mundane to the extraordinary. I did everything from step over yellow police tape to better observe a murder scene to sitting with burn victims at a hospital so that I could better sketch their wounds. Before long, I became known for my portrayal of medical procedures. The amount of effort needed to produce these graphic elements, required the ability to tell a story equally well with words and images.
Image of one of my medical graphics coming soon! ;)
Despite my great interest and affection for my work, the rapid collapse of the newspaper industry coaxed me into making a career change. It was time to take the skills I had acquired and apply them elsewhere. Because my time in journalism had revealed and enforced my strengths as a researcher, I decided it was best to follow those talents into a new field where they would be fortified and encouraged.
It is my goal to use my new skills in information science to take my personal skills to the next level. What I aspire to gain from my LIS 506 class is the ability to understand the technical structure behind all forms of electronic communication. Unless I truly comprehend how computers and computer programs work, I will continue to be at a disadvantage. I will always feel like I have my nose pressed up against the glass window of the digital world. With the skills that I will learn in that course, I can become a full participant in the emerging cyber playground.
Click here for examples of multimedia Graduate School of Education See some search engines for every age!Last updated: Oct. 8, 2008