Learning Report: Nashville State Community College Web Design Capstone

Closing Thoughts

In a nutshell, our project was a success.  To explain that further – if asked if there was room for improvement I would, without hesitation, answer, "YES."   Our group successfully created two working eCommerce sites for middle Tennessee businesses.  Despite our personal ´roadblocks´ of work responsibilities and work from other classes, I believe we overcame any obstacle that came our way to meet our semester/graduation objectives.  Why then did I say there is room for improvement from a project that finished as asked?  There is a large difference between completing a task as a ´well–oiled–machine´ and just completing a task.  Both can end with success, but one not as easily as the other.  Speaking from the perspective of a student that has returned to school from the working community, I have only known the privacy and self–reliance of my own sweat.  I have not had many opportunities to work in groups for a common goal, let alone for a semester–long project.  As I am sure my teammates would say the same, it speaks miles of differences for responsibilities to be on a group and not just the individual.

I suppose our biggest obstacle was communication–centered.  We are given an overabundance of tools, by the college and by technology, to keep in touch and share ideas, but outside the skills we have acquired during our time at NSCC balance was not one I concentrated on.  From the online courses to my twice–a–week night class during the summer semester, I have not had many opportunities to practice team building.  Do I think that will have an impact on my capability of obtaining and maintaining a job in the web design field?  Absolutely not!  I expect my dedication to a job in the web design field to improve upon graduation.  I am eternally grateful to the staff and curriculum at NSCC and am excited to begin my post–education life with a degree.  My biggest relief is that now I will have one main focus – my new job hunt.  I know that with the right expertise gained, my viability to adapt to the workforce is where I feel most confident.

As I am not wrapping up my time with NSCC, without considering the numerous classes that I took, I now that I am now ready to enter the workforce as a web designer.  The dedication that was put forth going back to school though jobs, babies, and complications that followed, I have finished a major milestone that builds my confidence.  Through the assortment of the classes, and class times, that were offered through the Communications Department, NCSS made me feel as if this was a truly adapted program for people like me.  I plan to take the skills I learned through learning web design and development standards, and the confidence that was a byproduct of our relationships we built, and apply them to my new job.  I now feel more comfortable with voicing my ideas and speaking to my strengths because I consider my knowledgebase an extensive asset to any web team.