College Grad Lessons

My freelance web site and my portfolio (in progress) can be found at www.erinmstewart.com and I continue to tweet @erin_stewart.

My current plan for this fall is to start grad school (Information Management program at University of Maryland) and continue working at my current job part-time (Web Development and Training Specialist). Unfortunately I cannot telecommute for my current job and will need to be closer to DC several days a week, so I will have some additional time to take on freelance projects. My hope is to gain some new experience through such projects that will help me advance my career.

College Grad Lessons has been on my mind recently and I plan to start posting again by the start of the fall semester. Topics will likely include: grad school, working part-time, freelancing and more. I’m also hoping to convince a friend or two that graduated this year to document their transition to the “real world” by posting on College Grad Lessons with me occasionally.

In the nearer future I plan to set up a blog at www.erinmstewart.com and start writing about all things web - what consumes most of my time, both at work and at home. I hope to see some of you commenting over there as well once things get started.

If you have suggestions for web-related posts for www.erinmstewart.com or are interested in hiring me for a project or two, please e-mail me.

Hope everyone is having a great summer,

Erin

Okay, it’s not really my first vacation, but it is my first vacation as a working adult. This week was busy at work and I haven’t thought about what I need to do to get ready to leave tomorrow morning at 8 a.m. Furthermore, I haven’t thought about what I’ll miss at work while I’m gone. I’m going to be optimistic and say that the week I come back won’t be twice as hectic, but we’ll see.

For those of you in the working world, what has your experience been with coming back to work from a vacation?

Like so many others that couldn’t be in DC today for the inauguration, I was glued to CNN.com Live with Facebook Connect. The 2008 election was the first presidential election that I was old enough to vote it, so it was already exciting for me. I would have never guessed that the first presidential election I would participate it would be so historical and inspiring. The amount of people that attended the inauguration speak for themselves. I, like so many others, am excited to watch and be part of the next four years and am proud of my country.

Today President Obama reminded us that we face serious challenges, but that we can and will stand up to them. CNN’s article about Obama’s inauguration speech highlights the key points that he made in his “sobering assessment of where America stands and a hopeful vision of what it can become as he gave his inaugural address as the nation’s 44th president.”

Below are several screenshots taken from CNN’s live coverage of the inaugurations:

The Crowd at the Inauguration of President Barack Obama

Barack Obama about to take the stage at the inauguration.

2009 Inauguration of President Barack Obama

President Barack Obama Being Sworn In

Thanks to some people that I follow on Twitter, I was reminded that today was the Macworld Expo in time to follow live updates on Macworld.com and Twitter (#Macworld). Macworld is like Christmas for Mac lovers. With the speed that information can be shared through Twitter and the blogosphere, information from the keynote presentation is provided instantly to anyone that is interested.

Sure it was a bit disappointing that no new iPhones or iMacs were presented today, but while following the live updates I got to thinking about all of the information people are able to share with the world. Logically, tech-savvy crowds are the first to harness online communication technology to share wide ranges of information. However, I hope that over the next few years the average internet user develops an appreciation for the potential to share knowledge and information instantly. Working in higher education web design, I see a lot of fear of the unknown in terms of technology. I see the same fear in my parents, who are primarily concerned about safety and security when using the internet. It is my hope that the future for online communication sees the average person sharing lessons they’ve learned or noteworthy things that they’ve experienced with the world. (more…)

As a student, this time of year means winter break for most. For adults, this time of year means work and trying to fit in their holiday to-do list. While some choose to use vacation days around this time, others are still going to work. While I was aware that being a grownup typically means no winter or summer break, I wish someone had stressed to me that days off are much harder to come by when you work full-time. As new employees, recent college grads don’t have extra hours of leave built up like senior employees do. New employees also tend to earn leave at a slower rate. (more…)