A Mental Battle Before an Academic One

Phase 2 
Honestly... felts like an emotional roller coaster: panic, frustration, and a few small improvements. There was a moment where I do not know if my brain just completely shut down from all the stress I was putting on myself, but there were days when I had to do the labs and I would simply say:
“No, this is impossible.” But little by little, something started to change. I do not know if I suddenly became intelligent out of nowhere or if I just had way too much free time. Being completely honest with the people reading this post, the hardest part was not always the formulas. Most of the time, the hardest part was my own mentality. Every time I saw something difficult, my first reaction automatically was:
“I cannot do this.” And honestly… that mentality made everything feel a THOUSAND times harder. And it is funny because I normally like to pretend that I am the most independent person in the world and that I can accomplish everything I set my mind to. 

URL Components & Social Engineering
Learning about URL components and social engineering made me realize how easy it is to manipulate people on the internet. I have always been somewhat careful with strange links but mostly because my mom taught me to be cautious about those things. I think that if she had not taught me to pay attention to that, I probably could have fallen for those tricks too. It is honestly scary to think about how easy it is to make something fake look real online. 

A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer 
My experience with this assignment was actually enjoyable because I learned many little things and, honestly, I liked doing it. It was interesting to feel like I was completing a real assignment from a company, although I struggled a little trying to properly organize the data labels on my charts. I knew that many companies require Excel skills, but I never understood why they said you needed a certification. In my head I was basically thinking:
“Do they not know how to add two cells together?” But during A6 I realized that Excel is not just about adding little cells together. It is also about organization, logic, and paying attention to details, because one small mistake can completely change the meaning of the data. That assignment also taught me patience… which is funny because I do not think Excel is really about that haha. Chapter 5.2.6 Workbook Management Facts One topic from Chapter 5 that really caught my attention was Workbook Management Facts. Honestly, I never really thought too much about how I organized my files or spreadsheets. For me, as long as the file existed and did not magically disappear, everything was fine. But learning about workbook management made me realize how important digital organization really is. Simple things such as properly renaming worksheets, duplicating sheets, using different file formats, or even importing data can save a huge amount of time and prevent unnecessary mistakes. Excel is not only about formulas. It is also about structure and organization. A poorly organized workbook can quickly turn into a confusing disaster, especially when working with large amounts of information. I also found it interesting to learn about different file formats, especially PDF and CSV. Before this class, I would simply ignore those options. Now I understand that every format has a different purpose depending on how you want to share or work with information. Even learning how to import data from websites or databases made me realize that Excel is much more powerful than I originally thought. Before, I saw Excel as “that complicated application full of little squares.” Now I understand why so many companies and professionals depend on it every day. 

Outside of IS101 
And even though all of this started as simple Excel assignments, I feel like I ended up learning things that I can truly apply outside the classroom. I know these skills will help me a lot in the future, especially in the business field, which is the area where I want to professionally develop myself. I hope to soon apply everything I learned in a real job and of course give the credit to Professor Wu for teaching us all of these skills.

Looking Toward Phase 3
I think my biggest challenge will be balancing discipline with confidence. Sometimes I underestimate myself before I even try. Other times I panic because I want everything to be perfect immediately. But this semester is teaching me something important:
growth does not happen when everything feels easy. It happens during those frustrating moments when you want to quit, but you continue anyway. And honestly… that is probably the real reason why surviving Excel feels like such an accomplishment.

+Plus
To finish this post, I wanted to show my first slideshow about my dog Uday, who is in Peru with my mom I know I probably sound very childish talking about my dog, but I truly love my two dogs and I am not embarrassed to say it ;)
Honestly, speaking English embarrasses me more haha. 

Procrastination vs Me

Hello hello everyone again!

In this second post, I want to first talk about how I did in Phase 1 of IS101. I feel like I did well (thank God), but not at the level I would have liked. There were moments when I felt really overwhelmed. At the beginning, I even thought, “dang, I think I’m going to drop this course, I can’t do it.” Then I motivated myself and said, “no, I can do this,” but later, when there was no turning back, I started doubting myself again. At first, I thought the problem was my classes, but honestly, it was hard to accept that the problem was me. My organization was not good and procrastination was getting the best of me. Sometimes I thought I had enough time, but in the last few days before deadlines, everything would pile up faster than it should have. If I could change something, I would be more consistent from the beginning and not trust myself too much with time. Anyway, I recognize that feeling overwhelmed by assignments is something I caused myself. Since I accepted that, I’ve started to change. Of course, I still miss some things sometimes, I won’t deny it. I also stopped doing the Bonus Quizzes and I feel like I need to start doing them again.
But I don’t want anyone to think that I hate IS101 or Professor Wu. In fact, I will always say this: Professor Wu has a lot of patience and is always willing to help. He is a really good professor and not someone you easily find. Now that I think about it, I’m going to feel sad when the course ends :( because IS101 is not only improving my Microsoft Office skills, but it is also making changes in my personal life, and I think that is a big positive of this course. 

For my Chapter 4 topic, I chose 4.11.5 about headers, footers, and section breaks. Something that caught my attention is that headers and footers are not only used for page numbers, but they can also include information like your name, the document title, the date, or even the file name. I also found section breaks really interesting. Before, I thought it was just about page breaks, but now I understand that you can divide a document into sections and change formatting in different parts, like using different headers or restarting page numbering. It may seem like something small, but when practicing in the labs, you can really see the difference when you want a document to look more professional. 

About the MO-110 Word exam, which I already took, what I did was practice the labs and then repeat them until I felt like I had mastered them. Yes, there were things where I spent like two hours trying to fully understand them, but thank God I was able to pass successfully. I remember the day of the exam, my hands were shaking (yes, I get very nervous). I’m afraid of failing… who isn’t? Also, I feel like my dad didn’t help much. He is a former CSN student and graduated in Business Administration and I remember him telling me about his experience in IS101. He said he passed, but his best friend failed the course. He also reminded me that it was a different time… and I was like: yeah… that stressed me out even more :c

But anyway, this second semester at CSN has been really enjoyable. I’ve learned how to motivate myself and see my mistakes as parte of my process as a student. I'm learning many things and seeing that I actually understand them, along with my good examen grades, makes me even more excited. It motivates me to finish my Associate Degree and transfer to UNLV to graduate. But I have to be patient… step by step, without rushing. First, let's see how I do in Excel. It scares me, but at the same time I’m excited to pass it and say “it looked so hard, but I did it.” 

Thank you for reading this post, take care and don’t procrastinate!

Starting a New Chapter Far From Home

Hello everyone! Welcome! <3 

Introducing Myself

My full name is Alexandra Milagros Aviles Bohorquez, but since it is quite long, I usually prefer to be called Ale. I was born in Peru and I arrived in the United States a year and a half ago. Before moving to Las Vegas, I had already started my university studies in Peru, since high school is completed at an earlier age there. However, my father encouraged me to continue my education in the United States in order to have better academic and professional opportunities. I’m a full-time student at CSN (College of Southern Nevada), enrolled in the Associate in Business program and I want to develop my professional career in the field of Logistics. My main goal is to successfully complete my current degree as soon as possible to later afford my second degree in Law at UNLV which I decided to postpone because I knew that if I didn’t fully mastering English, I wouldn’t be able to complete the program due to a lack of technical vocabulary.

In terms of personality, I would describe myself as someone who always tries to make a good impression on others; therefore, I act with respect and good manners while maintaining a positive attitude toward those around me. Academically, I’m a student who learns step by step and at a calm pace. Being curious helps me explore and research many topics. I’m always willing to learn and improve and even when something seems difficult at first, I try to avoid frustration.

My First Impression of IS101

My first impression of the IS101 course has been very positive. I entered the course without much knowledge of Microsoft programs, beyond the basics that most people know, but I have always wanted to gain a stronger command of Word, Excel, and PowerPoint, so I am very motivated to pass this course. At the beginning, I was honestly very nervous because not fully mastering English makes it difficult to express myself correctly. However, thanks to the support provided by Professor Wu, the language barrier has become a much smaller issue.

IS101 has helped me understand information systems concepts, improve my organization, and see myself as more professional. My experience at CSN so far has been very positive, and I am grateful to continue meeting kind professors who are genuinely enthusiastic about helping their students achieve their goals.

Discussion 2 Part 2 - LabSim Skill 2.1.10 Printer Facts

For Discussion 2 Part 2, I chose the skill 2.1.10 Printer Facts – What type of printer you need? in LabSim. Through the video and the labs, help me understand that choosing a printer is not just about using or purchase any kind of printer, but rather about considering important factors such as size, speed, cost, print quality and printing capacity. I also learned about the differences between inkjet and laser printers, as well as their advantages and disadvantages depending on their intended use. This skill was useful because I can now determine the type of printer that I have at home and it will allow me to make better decisions when purchasing or evaluating printers, things that are not commonly known.

Something I Would Like to Share

Finally, something I would like to share is that I am grateful to God for the opportunity to study, as this course is part of an important process in my academic life. Although this process can be frustrating due to the language barrier that limits my ability to speak in class and express myself as I would like, and also emotionally difficult because I miss my family in Peru, I remain motivated to continue moving forward and improving. I am often reminded that every effort has its reward, and I hope this is true for all my classmates and for myself.

Thank you to anyone who took the time to read my post <3.