Biography
Background
When I graduated from UCSD in 1993 with a BA in Visual Arts (filmmaking
emphasis) my head was filled with new ideas. That was the year that the
Internet went public. Our instructors were just starting to get email
accounts and they were begging the students to
send email if we could. Now many of us often want to turn the email spigot
off.
At that time I was the Creative Director for Kreative Advertising, a small in-house
ad agency. My primary job was coordinating ad campaigns and creating advertising
and graphic art. Soon after graduating I went back to school to learn Web Publishing.
For a class project I
created
a
Web
site for my company. When I unveiled it they were amazed you could click
on
a
hyperlink
and go
to another Web page. Inspired by my web site, the company decided to start their
own
Internet service providing business. They made me the Webmaster.
Then in 1998 I was bitten by the teaching bug. A friend of mine turned down
a job teaching Photoshop at a community college, but offered the position to
me. I could not accept it at the time, but the idea of devoting myself to education
really attracted
me. I started to feel this was my calling.
The next year I had an opportunity to start teaching college part-time at MiraCosta
College. I eagerly accepted.
Eventually I started teaching courses at several colleges, ranging
from
E-Commerce
to
3d
Animation. I wanted to become a great teacher. I
asked
my lead instructors what Master’s Degree would be best to develop
myself.
Over and over
they
recommended the Educational Technology
program at SDSU. That’s why I initially started the EDTEC Master’s
Program.
Plans
I started my Masters in June 2003. The following summer I had an opportunity to become the Video Production/Multimedia teacher at a new high school, the Multimedia and Visual Arts School. I jumped at the chance. It’s one of the new small schools — a smaller school carved out of a large comprehensive high school with a career emphasis. In my first two years my students won numerous awards for their work including three IVIE awards, national level awards and best-in-show at the San Diego County Fair.
At this time I'm grappling with the decision to stay in public education or enter the corporate world as an instructional designer. I've enjoyed my time teaching at an inner city students and helping to launch a new high school. However, now that I'm about to finish my masters, I'm ready for a new challenge.
My most recent adventure in education was a summer internship with the Bank of America in Boston. Observing what corporate-level instructional designers actually do crystallized what I have been learning in the EDTEC program. I would like to experience what it's like to work for a large corporation as an instructional designer.
Other Interesting Things
When our son, Donald, was born in 1993, he became the sun our planets revolve around. He is very active in sports, music lessons and scouting. He's also about to start high school. I'm an assistant scout master in his troop and have been able to go on many fun and fascinating outings with him including: snorkling at Catalina, sailing on an ocean-going tall-sail ship and snowshoeing in Bryce Canyon. This summer our next adventure will be canoeing in Boundary Waters National Park just south of the border of Canada in Minnesota.