My name is LaSandra Barnhill. I grew up in central Florida in the 80s and 90s, when the transition from big hair, jelly shoes, scrunch socks, and plastic t-shirt clips slowly transitioned into JNCOs, Bone Thugs-N-Harmony, and grunge. The Magic Kingdom was overrated and lousy traffic on I-4 was the bane of most of central Florida’s existence, and likely still is. I wouldn’t change any of it for the world, which is why I’m one of the author Carl Hiaasen’s biggest fans. He’s a Florida-based author and most of his stories take place here. If you’re not familiar, please check him out. His writing style is hilarious and loved by Floridians and non-Floridians alike.
I moved to Tallahassee, Florida in the Summer of 1999 to attend Florida State University. It turned out that my college career path was a long and winding one, finally bringing me to pursue a Master in Information Science (MSI). I still live in Tallahassee, Florida near the university’s campus. I work for the Florida Department of Education in the Student Services department. We are mental health-focused and school-based social services driven.
Both my work and personal life are centered on youth-focused servitude. I am highly motivated to enrich students’ and young people’s lives. I am a Scout Leader with Scouts BSA, formerly the Boy Scouts of America. I’ve been active in scouting for over 10 years. My oldest son is an Eagle Scout and my youngest is working on his project. The Scout slogan is “Do a Good Turn Daily,” and we try to commit to at least one community service project a month.
In other hobby news, I foster a deep fondness for retro role-playing games (RPGs), of course, my generation pioneered them.
Less common, my family practices Native American Dance and we sometimes travel for my oldest son to participate in Grass Dance at Powwow.
We also love roller skating, weekend trips, and museums!
I started listening to podcasts when I discovered Serial, a spin-off of the “This American Life” production, which was originally released in 2014 and was hosted and produced by Sarah Koenig. I was hooked and have remained an avid podcast listener ever since. When I learned in the first lecture that we were going to learn to produce a podcast, I was stoked! I’m really looking forward to this class.
Disclaimer: Most of this should be read with dry humor in mind.
Hello, my name is Jeffrey Segassie, but I go by Brett. It’s my middle name. I’m including this because for some reason people tend to be confused by why I go by middle name instead of my first. I’m not sure either, my mom and my family called me by middle name and the meaning is only an abbreviation of another country whereas “Jeffrey” actually means “God’s Peace” and I was born on a Sunday so go figure, the jury might still be out for whether that fits my personality or not. I do know that I try to have empathy for everyone as I was taught, my mom was a great woman, and recently passed. All I can try to be is the man she wanted me to be, that she thought I was.
I was born in Jacksonville, FL and I’m still here now. I am not sure if that is where I want to stay. I would like to travel and see more of the world by living in different places and over the years I’ve realized that Jacksonville is still the beautiful city that I thought it was, but over the past several years it has been a lot more problematic, and not the place I grew up in, and that makes me very emotional that while I grew up being taught to appreciate everyone and their differences that isn’t the world we live in. Equality for everyone should not be an issue. I recently stated to a friend that as a gay man we don’t even have equality amongst ourselves, we all have prejudices, and stereotypes. Maybe it’s wanderlust that I don’t want to live here anymore? I’ve been thinking about using my library degree, when I obtain it, to work in Europe of in other countries, but I’m not sure where to start there.
I’ve also been traveling to Atlanta my entire life and I tried to figure that out some this morning. Let’s say I went there every Christmas and Summer for starters until I was eighteen and I’m still doing that now, that’s somewhere around over 25,000 miles driving just by the time I was legally an adult and I know that it was a lot more than that. When you factor in an idea this way it shows the importance of statistics in your life and everyone has their own. I have my own, which to me shows that I’m more of a staunch character than I always think of myself and everyone can think of themselves in this way when you view different lenses of what you’ve been through.
Look whether you’re a fan of Killing Eve or not sometimes we’re all angry clowns inside. LOL
I attended a non-denominational Christian college, which was Florida Christian College, and is now Johnson University South. It is interesting that there are at least five different types of non-denominational Christian schools of thought, ours was on Alexander Campbell, and there’s at least two or three biography volumes about him have been published, but the author Eva Jean Wrather, spent at least seventy years of her life compiling a biography of more than 800,000 words. People ask me why I attended college there when I did not intend to go into a field teaching religion. I went because I knew some people there, I wanted to move to the Orlando area, and be away from home without being too far away, and I studied Humanities. It’s interesting that now they have more “marketable” degrees Nursing, Business, etc. but I do not regret the people that I met and what I learned there. It would be great if everyone used hermeneutics and context and research about what they talked about before just saying something (I actually learned that there) and how to dress properly (It astounds me that people come to interviews in T-shirts and shorts). It was proved that I didn’t move too far because I’d get calls in the middle of the day with my mom telling me she had driven down and that she needed help finding somewhere to stay. I appreciate that a lot more now than I did then. I worked in the library there which made me want to work in libraries and I graduated fourteen years ago and I’m only now working on my Masters degree because I had doubts and life along the way. If I can give anyone inspiration it would be to not let your doubt get in your way, to just go for it, because time will go on regardless. I’m in this class because it seemed like I learn something from it I’m not sure I’d be great in technology. I’ve always been able to pick up on it. Not programming, what I’m worried about is not that libraries will become obsolete, things change, I’m worried if I don’t have some experience in IT the degree I’m getting right now will become obsolete so I’m trying to learn what I can.
I’m also a cat person. This is Oliver.
I have said somewhere on Twitter @brettsegmented, also Tumblr tumblr.com/brettsegmented (Do you ever just go back to your archived posts and remember things you loved and loved about yourself?) before that I have a very powerful cat. As a jest and to be somewhat serious. I do love dogs too, but when you’re roommate decides to breed them and doesn’t tell you and the dog has 15 puppies you get kind of burnt out. I just want my own, but I don’t think my cat would appreciate that right now.
Hello everyone! My name is Jasmyn and I am from and currently live in Atlanta, Georgia. I just completed my Information Architecture certificate from the iSchool and will be completing the MSIT program this May. In my free time, I enjoy crocheting. This is the one pattern I’ve mastered and use for EVERYTHING. One day, I’ll expand my skills further. Currently, I am a cybersecurity consultant specializing in data protection and privacy. I’m interested in learning more about digital media in this class because I hope to one day work in UI/UX design.
My name is Jessica Maya and I am a school librarian residing in the twin isle of Trinidad and Tobago. You may or may not have heard of it so be sure to checkout the 16 reasons why you should NEVER visit Trinidad and Tobago. Although I was born and lived most of my life here, I lived in the US for several years while studying at FIU as a bio and liberal studies undergrad. Eventually I decided to move back home because I missed being near to my family. It was a rough time in the economy when I arrived and jobs were hard to land, so when I was offered a position as Library Assistant at The International School of Port of Spain, I quickly took it. It isn’t quite what I pictured for my career but I must say I am now quite happy being a school librarian.
I decided, during the COVID-19 pandemic, that it might be a good idea to go back to school and get my Master’s in Information so that I could be promoted to librarian. It’s been quite a rough ride but here I am, an MSI grad finishing up two remaining certificate courses. I am so relieved to almost be done with this student life which I can imagine so are you too!
I am a mother of one almost six year old energetic boy and soon to be baby girl. Besides work, school and mom life, I help my husband run a small side business. He makes bespoke wooden items and I design the graphics to laser burn on them. I am an audible fanatic and love anything crafty but can’t say I have any hobbies per se at the moment because my time is so divided.
I am really looking forward to learning new things in this class because I never did any formal training and all my design skills are pretty much from experience on the job. My confidence level isn’t that great because I lack that formal training and so I am hoping to learn some more of the nitty gritty when it comes to design. I have always wanted to learn about typography so I would have to say I am very interested in that.
My story starts in the year of 1991, in the booming city of Indianapolis, IN. After a happy childhood full of art camps and beanie babies, we ended up settling in the swampy state of Florida, where I have stayed ever since.
My interest in art flourished while studying at Florida State University, where I received a bachelors in studio art.
After curtailing the many “useless degree” remarks from frenemies, I ended up putting my creative talents to use in the tech world and currently work as a Digital Content Specialist for a software company.
Julia & Family
When I’m not fully immersed in video production and creating technical tutorials, I spend my day wrangling my twin 4-year-old daughters with the help of my cyber security-pro husband.
In my spare time I enjoy painting and creating jewelry. I’m also a nerd for stationary/planning supplies – anything to keep my mind organized and my hands busy.
I’m looking forward to this class! I’m excited to create digital projects outside of my typical workday. I feel like I’m creating digital content within my “comfort zone” at work and I’m looking forward to pushing myself creatively this semester.
Hi there! My name is Heather, and I currently live in Orlando, FL. I was born and raised here, but I spent a few years in Tallahassee getting my MA in English Literature (also at FSU).
I’m in my first year in the MSI program, so I have a ways to go before I can start thinking about my goal of working in a school library. Currently, I work in internal communications for HUB International, a global insurance brokerage. As the description would suggest, it’s not the most thrilling job, and I wouldn’t say I have a passion for internal communications, but I get to use some of the skills I learned in my MA, so it could be worse. Much worse.
When I’m not working, I love to hike with my reluctant partner–my dog Stevie Licks. She doesn’t love getting rained on, but it’s Florida, so what can you do? Stevie has three siblings: a 9-pound rat terrier named Miles and two cats named Rizzo and Jonesy (Jonesy’s an orange cat, and my husband’s favorite movie is Alien, so…)
I also spend a good deal of time watching trashy reality shows with my husband, but I balance it out with reading. I studied Victorian literature, and 19th century novels are my comfort reads.
I do the tiniest amount of video and audio recording and editing in my job, but I’m excited to learn more and learn some new platforms and more advanced techniques. I’ll be honest, I don’t think I’m the most creative person on the planet, but I’ll do my best!
Well, my “full” name is Humberto Messeguer BUT that’s probably a tongue twister for some. So, we’ll keep it simple. : )
I was born and raised in Winter Springs, FL which is located in Orlando / Central Florida. I lived there my entire life and graduated from the University of Central Florida with a Bachelors in Digital Media with a fixation on Web Design & Development. Currently, I’m attending FSU for a Masters in MSIT and work as a Security Analyst for EMT (Enrollment Management Technology) here at Florida State.
Tallahassee is MUCH different than Orlando but the same in many ways. Tally’s biggest offense would have to be how long it takes to get food. It can be quite abyssal at times…
Reason that I came here, was because of a philosophy that I have which is “You can’t grow where you were born”. COVID, while it didn’t affect me much negatively, showed me that people need to push themselves into uncomfortable or new situations. I came here wanting to grow as a human (while also having my best friend here) and take advantage of all the opportunities I can. So, far, I’ve enjoyed all the ups and downs and am completing the goals that I set my mind too.
In my free time, I enjoy playing games, reading, learning about global events, and traveling. I’m planning on heading to Japan this year (hopefully in April). My main goal is to experience the world more this year now that everything has been returning back to regular operations world wide.
I look forward to learning from what Kyle has to teach! He’s a fantastic professor if you haven’t had him yet.
How else you can expect a Dr.Seuss’s fan to have a title for her self-introduction?
Hi Everyone, I am Saranya living in Tampa, Florida. I am in my second year of MSIT program. I am basically from Tamil Nadu, India, which is very well known for its culture and heritage. My mother tongue is Tamil, which is one of the longest surviving classical languages. I moved from the land of heritage to the land of opportunities (USA) in 2014. I have been in Tampa since then and call it my second home.
I obtained my bachelors degree in IT back at home in 2007. 14 years later, thousands of miles away, I am here now, pursuing my Masters. Apart from studies, I am a mom of two boys and working full-time as a database administrator in a banking company. I love reading and hoarding books. The smell of new and old books gives me an elated joyfulness. Currently, I am reading “The Kite Runner” by Khaled Hosseini, which had been in my to-read list for long. As you could understand from the title of this post, I love children’s books and reading to kids.
Digital media course interests me because I believe it would tickle my creativity nerve. Audio and video editing sound exciting and I would like to learn the nuances behind it.
As much as I love United States as an immigrant, I also value my home and will never forget my roots. This makes me to celebrate all the American and Indian festivals. Last weekend, we celebrated a very important Indian harvest festival, Pongal, which you can refer as “Indian Thanksgiving”, where we offer thanks to Sun, farmers and farming animals. Below is the picture of the prayers (poojai), we did at our home 🙂 You can few Hindu deities, Indian vegetables, sugarcane, lamp, sugarcane and a home-made sweet dish in the pot.
My name is Saleh Ahmed, and I am currently in my 4th semester of the MSIT program. I currently live in Kissimmee, FL, right next to Shingle Creek Park. I obtained my bachelor’s degree from the United Kingdom in 2010 and acquired my certification in Microsoft SQL Server after moving to the United States. I have had the wonderful privilege of working in several great companies all over the United States as a web developer, database analyst, and database administrator. As of the last 8 years, I have been working at Orlando Health as a database administrator. My duties include managing over 300 production servers and being on call every month. I enjoy doing BBQ for friends and family, gardening, traveling, and flying my drone. I especially like taking pictures of new places. I am interested in taking this course to improve my video editing skills.
Let’s get into some of that sparkle! Hi everyone! My name is Latasha Harrison and I am located in Tampa, Florida. I grew up in a small town near Orlando called Umatilla, Florida. An interesting fact is that it is so small we only have 2 stop lights and had one of them installed just 5 years ago. 😀 Any other small town folk in the class that can relate? If not, I can tell you growing up in a small town can be a very interesting experience.
I am in my 2nd to last semester here at FSU, currently working on a Master’s degree in Information Technology. I currently work as a Library Technology Guide for the Hillsborough County Library Cooperative. I have been with them for a rewarding 7 years. My job includes managing technology installation projects, emerging technology, creating technology training guides and videos, and assisting in troubleshooting tech issues within our 27 libraries within the system.
I’m hoping this class will teach me new skills that I can use in my daily work life. I have made videos for school projects and work projects so I am looking to learn some new things and get some helpful tips on making my projects look even better. My hobbies include binge watching my favorite shows, DIY projects, reading, scrolling on Pinterest, but mostly listening to True Crime Podcasts. I absolutely LOVE True Crime Podcasts. Sistas Who Kill and Sword and Scale are my two favorites at the moment. Do you have any favorite Podcasts? If so I would like to read about them in the comments.
I am very excited and really looking forward to this class and getting to know my classmates!
