Saying goodbye

I am in the process of finishing up my final semester here at the University of Wisconsin-Stout, and as these past five years comes to a close I realize how much my time here has meant to me. I am proud of myself that I did not waste my time. I am sad that I am leaving but excited about the future - for those of you who don't know, I am moving to Dallas, Texas to work as the Assistant Layout Editor and a writer/copy editor for a newspaper in Dallas. It's a huge change and of course there are a milieu of things going through my brain, but I feel that my time as a technical communication student has prepared me for fully optimizing my potential in the real world.

My advice to those who have not had their stint in the real world: don't sweat it. The world is full of people who think they are better than you, but do not let them intimidate you because they are suffering from deluded complexes.

Work yourself to the brink at Stout. Learn as much as you can, develop as many tech comm skills as you can possible pull out of yourself.

Speak with your professors, even if you don't like them. Bother them in their offices, run them down on the sidewalk and greet them in the hallways. As contacts and resources, they will help you out later in life more than you realize, and once you're out there trying to make it, you will need all the help you can get.

Start early. Freelance while you're still a student, even if it's just simple things like making a poster for a band or helping somebody edit a brochure...everyone is useful as a networking tool. The more experience you get working as a client, the more desirable you are to those who would hire you. Keep track of anything and everything you do in school; they might be excellent for items in your portfolio. Make things on your own just for fun and for God's sake, Learn Photoshop!