My name is Alejandro “Alex” Palma, and I am a veteran of the U.S. Navy Construction Battalion (aka Seabees). At the age of 20, I traveled from Mexico City, Mexico, to Chicago, Illinois, and financially supported my dreams of higher education by maintaining multiple odd jobs. After a few years, I found my way of enlisting and servicing this great nation.
During this time, as a construction design enthusiast who exemplifies the Seabee motto of “Can Do,” I moved up in the ranks, led sailors, managed and supported security equipment at naval installations. Following these achievements, I earned an undergraduate on Information Technology and eventually built up a network of friends that helped me land a career within the federal government.
Initially, I supported American Embassies abroad, later becoming part of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) until my final transfer to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) approximately eight years ago. Proving myself a valuable asset to the organization, I became a well-known figure managing the security posture of CBP Field Operations and earning my transfer to the State of Florida. At this regional office, I maintain the security portfolio of CBP’s installations extending from Pensacola to Key West and Jacksonville to Tampa.
I am currently a year shy of achieving a Masters of Science in Information Technology; while reaching a half-century of age and glimpsing 30 years of combined federal service at the horizon. I am a firm believer that it is time to pass the baton to the next generation and enjoy retirement in this beautiful State.
Hi Everyone! A little bit about me to introduce myself to the class; I’m a Libra, I like long walks on the beach, holding hands…… just kidding, going to the beach gets sand in your shorts!
Seriously though, my name is Andy. I live here in Tallahassee and I am looking forward to moving somewhere new and exciting when I graduate. I currently work for the University at the FSU Primary Healthcare Clinic. We are a family practice that serves an underserved neighborhood in Tallahassee. I like my job, but can’t show up on time to save my lie, mornings are rough. My hobbies include collecting things. Specifically Mid Century things. Like furniture or kitchenware. Also records. Vinyl Records are my favorite thing in the whole world. For all the hobbies I have had over the years, this is the one that defines me the most. Records can be old or new, rock n’ roll or jazz, collectible or junk. I think that describes me pretty well, no real definition.
I am also a Veteran of the US Coast Guard and US Merchant Marine, meaning I sailed ships for a long time. I finally retired a few years ago, and not being old enough or rich enough to actually retire, I came back to school. It has been a heck of a journey, started in 2016, and been full steam ahead since with no breaks even for summer. I will graduate with my Masters in Information Technology in Summer 2022 and cannot wait to be done, I’ve had senioritis since starting grad school!
My professional interests are Networking Admin/Help Desk type things and HTML/CSS Web Dev type things. I am not sure exactly where I will end up just yet, but I am excited to get there and start making a place for myself.
I have put a couple of photos here that describes me pretty well. This first one is a photo of what I was listening to last night, Beck’s Hyperspace album, I also own this on CD and Cassette. Yes, I collect cassettes also. The second picture is of my living room. You can get a sense of my style, which I like to think of as more Mid Century Comfortable. It is basically scavenged from your grandparents’ cool giving rooms of the late 60s to mid-70s.
My hyperlinks for this blog are my personal website andypannelli.com and one for finding records for sale Discogs.com. Niether are expertly organized, but both get the job done and could always use a little polish.
Hi, my name is Casey. I’m in the MIT program at FSU. I live in Seminole County, Florida, where I currently teach Graphic Design and Web Programming at Crooms AOIT. Since high school, I have been studying graphic design. After working with my school to produce some marketing materials, I ended up falling in love with teaching.
I am excited to be working on redesigning my curriculum to turn my class into a year-long DnD campaign, while teaching about design. Part of why I love teaching is that with my curriculum, I have the flexibility to work on students with their soft skills. This helps give them real life experiences and build up their skills for outside of school. One of my biggest things is working on problem-solving skills. Many students, as soon as they get stuck, turn to me for help. Throughout the year, I work on making them more independent by teaching them how to research questions and ask teammates for help. During their quarter exams, I always do projects instead of tests. Since I do projects, I let them have open notes, ask each other questions, and they can google whatever they need, but they can’t ask me any questions. This forces them to use their other resources.
I am excited to learn about speed dating in this class. I do something similar for critique days in my classroom, but I want to see other teacher’s take on it.
Me at Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun State
Hello, everyone!
I’m delighted to be in this class with you all.
Disclaimer: I am not a real princess; I just thought it would sound cool.
So, who am I? I’m a 23-year-old graduate student from Nigeria, and I am currently enrolled in the Master of Science in Information Program.
My name is Amaka Odozi. I was also born and raised in Nigeria, and I belong to the Ndokwa tribe of Delta state in my country. I speak ‘Igbo’ and if you’re wondering what my name means, Amaka means ‘beauty’ while Odozi means peacemaker. I have two dogs, and I adore them- a German Shepherd, and a Boerboel – but they are back home, and I miss them terribly. My dogs are my world, but before I get too carried away, let’s keep going.
I earned my first degree in mass communication from Babcock University, Ilishan-Remo, Ogun state with an emphasis in public relations and advertising. After I graduated from university in 2019, I began working for a broadcast news outlet. During this period, I developed an interest in writing, editing articles, blogging, and researching. This experience gave me the confidence to launch my news website – ConfamNews, in 2020. The goal of my news platform was to share underreported news about Nigeria and give people an opportunity to tell their own stories.
Sadly, I had to shut down my news website. I wanted to explore the technology field to expand my knowledge as time went on. So, in 2021, I began working as a content creator for a product development company, but had to leave when I decided to pursue my studies further. I applied for the Master of Science in Information program at Florida State University because I have always been interested in how information affects people and how they can leverage it.
I was lucky enough to be accepted, so I packed up my bags and moved to Tallahassee, Florida, in December. Technically, I’m still a newbie. It’s my first semester here, and I’m still adjusting. I have a hard time finding my way around campus and I find myself getting lost all the time. Lol!
I enjoy watching movies, especially horror and thrillers, during my free time. I also like crime documentaries. I also love listening to music. I’m always interested in checking out new places, meeting people from different walks of life, and having a good time.
In the coming weeks, I hope to learn how to tell stories and create better content through this course. I also plan to improve my audio and video editing skills and push myself creatively. I see this course as an excellent opportunity for me to step outside my comfort zone and take on new challenges. I am interested in learning about the digital media sphere, becoming a better professional, and exploring the more obscure parts of the IT industry.
I am looking forward to working with each of you, and I believe it will be a fun experience. Please feel free to reach out! I love meeting new people and networking. And if you want to know more about me, leave a comment below or shoot me a message.
Hi everyone! My name is Emily Madril. I live in Tallahassee, Florida but was born and raised in Boise, Idaho. I’ve lived in Florida for 8 years now but I love the cold and can’t wait to live in a place that has all four seasons. I’m in my second semester in the MSIT program and got my undergrad degree in Computer Science.
But more importantly (to me) is my soccer career. I play for Florida State and we just won the National Championship in December, making that the second national title since I’ve been at FSU. I have one more year to play and hope to add another one. After that, my goal is to play professionally for as long as I can.
The day we won the natty
I am one of six kids and have a twin sister (who I am older than by 19 minutes and never let her forget it). My oldest sister has an almost 3 year old niece and we are all obsessed with her. My roommate and I are also cat moms to two boys named Remy and Emile like in the movie Ratatouille. Other than that, I like to read and listen to music in my spare time. I am excited to broaden my knowledge about media production as a whole in this class and I am looking forward to getting to be creative.
Aleisha Edenfield here. I am from Jackson County. Tallahassee, however, has been my second home for most of my childhood before becoming my official home as an adult. In fact, my first and fondest memory as a child was walking into the Florida State University’s softball/soccer field complex to watch the 1999 woman’s softball team play ball. My youngest aunt was on this team. I was only 7 years old!
Aleisha Edenfield
It was only natural to want to follow in my family’s footsteps at that point. While I did not inherit the outstanding softball skills and become a D1 athlete, I found my way back onto the Florida State campus as an undergrad student 14 years later. In 2015, I graduated with my Bachelor of Arts in Editing, Writing and Media. I left my second home not long after. I took a break from my educational path to work for the State of Florida.
Three years later, I found myself right back in Tallahassee. It relieved me to be back in the city I grew up in most of my life, greeting old friends and new as I delved more into the activities I knew and loved. I joined the Writing in Tallahassee group, who helped me rediscover my love for writing. We meet year round for many writing excursions, including but not limited to the Word of South festival held every April, the Shakespeare in the Park festival held every May, and, the most important event of them all, National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo), a thirty-day novel writing challenge held every November. I also fell back in love with the world of Pokémon, joining fellow trainers in the Tallahassee area for many of the wonderful events, raids, and battles that Pokémon Go offers.
Along with the events and people, I have also appreciated the parks and trails that Tallahassee offers. As someone who grew up in the country, city-life is not always what it’s cracked up to be. When I need to take a break and embrace the surrounding nature, I will often tackle the trails that connect between Tom Brown Park and Lafayette Heritage Trail. Whether it be for biking, a peaceful walk, or trying to collect miles on Pokémon Go, at least once or twice a week, I could be found at one of these two parks, or even at Cascades or McCord if the mood strikes me.
Biking at Lafayette Heritage Trail
But then the COVID-19 pandemic hit.
Though the world being in medical turmoil is not something that anyone should celebrate, I have to give thanks all the same. It striking when it did allowed me to pause and reflect on my life and where I stood career-wise, and I realized I was not happy where I was at and wanted to move forward. And thus, in Fall 2020, I walked through the doors of Florida State University once more—the virtual ones, at least—and found myself in pursuit of a Master of Arts in Information. My goal? To become a youth librarian.
I hope that LIS 5313, Digital Media: Concepts and Production, will not only get me one step closer into obtaining my Masters but also provide me with the tools needed to better understand the digital media world and how I can utilize it to better suite the needs of future generations. I look forward to learning all this class offers, and meeting and learning about my classmates along the way. And maybe, with the help of this class, I might find some comfort level in learning how to create, format, and use a blog. Today’s post will be the starting point of a long and educational journey, I am sure!
In the meantime, any of my classmates and professors who are in Tallahassee can definitely keep an eye out for me. Though the pandemic is still going strong, and precautions shall be taken at all costs, it will not prevent me from stepping back onto campus and visiting JoAnne Graf Softball Field once again as I now watch my sister and the 2022 softball team work towards their goal in making it to the Women’s College World Series for the second year in a row. Go Noles!
My name is Austin Dudley and I currently live in Pensacola, Florida. I graduated from FSU in 2014 with a B.S. in Information Technology and hope to graduate this year with my MSIT. I work for the United States Navy as an Instructor Pilot for VT-6. This is one of the first places all future Navy pilots must go through in their two year long training program. During my off time, I enjoy camping, playing video games, and occasionally competing in city tennis matches.
I am quite interested in the audio/video editing portions of the class as I did a little bit in my undergrad and remember enjoying seeing the final product after working to put everything together. I equate the feeling to completing a complex puzzle and seeing the beautiful image that seems to appear out of no where. I am hoping to refresh some of the skills that I have lost in media production, learn new tricks/techniques from others, and become more creative throughout this semester.
Born in Texas and raised in Florida, I’ve lived in over 50 places. At the age of 15, my mother shipped me to Pennsyltucky. I lived in the foothills of the PA and MD Appalachian mountains, where I lived on a cattle farm and worked on three different organic farms along with my regular job until I moved to WV.
I ❤ mountains!
Then I loaded up the truck and moved to DC. I currently split my time between the two places.
I’ve had a stupid amount of jobs. That said, I was a UPS Driver for 12 years before he decided to part ways and attend the University of Maryland at the age of 34. I currently work for the Petworth Neighborhood Library in Washington, DC where I run four writers workshops, teach computer literacy, genealogy, job-seeking, Baby Lap Time, and direct people to the public restroom. I’m also the Secretary-Treasurer for AFSCME Local 1808.
I’m part cowboy, part toddler, part old man, and according to my partner Elaine, “a complete dork.”
This is my happy face
I’ve been an activist for 20 years and am affectionately known as “anarchy dad” to some of the Mid-Atlantic radical milieu.
I also have been known to write stories. For example, The Origin of Ridleymas, which is a weird story about a number of things, but includes a self-cannibalizing cryptid.
Hello! I’m Kestrel Ward, and I’m very excited for this class. I am one of those Terminally Online People you read about who has a bajillion personal blogs, all the social media, and lives their lives Online just about. In fact, I haven’t had a WordPress blog in several years since I lost my last domain, but this class and the blogging opportunities finally pushed me over the edge to start another personal blog, this time under my own name and focused mostly on my work in libraries. I work for the University of Florida libraries in Gainesville, specifically the Architecture and Fine Arts Library, where I’m in charge of the evening hours and new books processing. I get boxes of books delivered to my office just about every week, and I didn’t even have to pay for them myself! Of course, they’re only sometimes of personal interest to me, but it still feels like Christmas a lot! (●’◡’●)
So, if you click on the link to my personal blog’s introductory post you’ll get a sense of what I’m like probably, but I’m going to repeat the bit near the end where I give a list of things about me:
So here’s the basics: I’m a white, disabled, neurodivergent, queer, cis woman. Wife, mother, student, librarian*.
OneQueerLibrarian blog post
My son and I from Christmas
Above is the most recent picture I have of myself and my son (my husband doesn’t let me take pictures of him). My son is 10 years old, and already an avid little gamer. He is the delight of my life, and I’m very proud of him, naturally. He is my only child, but I do have three furbabies as well: two purebred German Shepherds, mother and daughter, named Holly and Bella, and an orange cat who recently adopted us named Aximili, or Ax for short (my son is hugely into Animorphs right now and named the cat, who lives up to his namesake and eats everything.)
Bella, my son, and Holly
Aximili (Ax)
I am currently in my next to last semester of FSU’s MSI program (I’m kinda salty they changed it from MLIS, because that’s the degree I thought I was getting when I applied. I don’t want an MSI. I want an MLIS like all the cool kids have!) I hope to graduate at the end of Summer, and only have one last class to take. My focus has been academic libraries for the most part, but a big sub-focus has been on stories. I’ve really enjoyed all the story-driven classes I’ve taken so far, and hope to find ways to incorporate that into my work in academic libraries, which is where I feel like I belong. I am also a writer in my free time (mostly fanfiction these days, but I do write original fantasy and romance as well), and an avid reader so my interest in stories is natural. I’m also deeply interested in topics of social justice, marginalized stories, and studying the history of marginalized peoples. I hope one day to be a Women and Gender Studies librarian, and am already a member of the Women and Gender Studies Section of ACRL.
My undergraduate degree was in Classics, and my first Master’s degree was in Classics and Ancient History from Durham, UK. My husband and I lived in the UK, in the north near Yorkshire and Newcastle, for a year while I studied, and it was one of the best experiences of my life. Some day I’d love to be able to move back there, the pace of life is perfect for me, as is the weather (I die in Florida summers every single year, despite being born here). I’ve always loved living in new and interesting places, partially because until I was 10 my parents traveled and worked the Renaissance Fair circuit. We lived in a school bus and then a travel trailer and traveled all over the country every year to do shows. My father still does that sort of thing, and even after they divorced and my mom got a corporate job we still made time to go and visit people at the local shows or sometimes travel to ones farther away for the weekend. Growing up like that was very formative to the kind of person I am, and when people ask where I’m “from” that’s what I think of. The Rennie community is my Village.
Me in costume a few years ago at Gainesville’s local Medieval fair, Hoggtowne.
Aside from all that, the other major thing about me is that I’m a huge nerd. Books, games, anime, most nerd stuff I’m into it. I started out as a reading nerd, learning to read very early on in life and devouring every book I could get my hands on as a child. In my teen years I was introduced to anime and manga by friends and I’ve never looked back. Lately I’ve been exploring other East Asian media as well, like Korean dramas and Chinese danmei and the like, but my first love is always for Japanese media. I’ve even spent several years trying to teach myself the language (with middling success) to better understand it. After anime, in my 20’s I met my husband who is a huge gamer, and he introduced me to DnD and World of Warcraft, as well as various console games, and now almost 20 years later we’re introducing our son to both as well! We started new WoW characters this week to play together with him, and later this month we’ll start our first family DnD campaign as a group of intelligent dogs going on a bank heist!
I’m really excited for this class because as I mentioned above, I really love telling stories and digital media. I’m hoping to learn better skills for storytelling and digital production overall, but especially graphic design which I use in my day to day job managing the social media for my library branch. I’m really looking forward to learning more this semester along with all of you, even with the heavy work-load. Good luck to all of us! ╰(*°▽°*)╯
Hello there, the name is Brianna Criswell. Though feel free to just call me Bri.
I’m currently an assistant at a public library here in Florida and am presently pursuing my master’s in Information Science at Florida State University. Before I began my library career path my education and experience was mostly in art and digital media.
I attended Ringling College of Art and Design for two years where I was an illustration student, after that I transferred out to complete my associates and then transferred to FGCU to finish my Bachelor’s with their art program. Because of that I also have a lot of time and experience with a lot of digital media programs and techniques. I have also had soem experience applying these skills in the academic field as I spent a length of time as an intern at the Edision Ford Winter Estates!
I’m looking forward to this class to learn a little bit more about digital media design, see how much more effectively I can apply these skills in the information science field. I look forward to getting my hands back into my “First Love ” career field.
Outside of my career, as you can guess from my education that I love art! I have always been into comics, animation, illustration, and even classical art. I’ve been a long time fan of Disney animation though I have fallen in love with many more studios over the years such as Cartoon Saloon and Studio Ghibli.
I have a cat named Loki, a little ball of mischief that me and mother adopted from the nearby humane society! I love him dearly, though he does cause a lot of trouble sometimes…
I look forward to the rest of the semester with you all!
