C# Bootcamp and Beyond!

It’s been a while since i have posted anything. In short i’m busy. Mike Seeber and I have been trying a great deal to organize some great events for Grand Valley this semester, the first of which was the C# Bootcamp. For this event we planned on having David Smith, who is the awsome Lead SA for the region and a C# MVP, come and give a fairly in depth talk on C#, followed by lab time.

C# Bootcamp:
In short, today went very well. The bootcamp was laid out into three sections:

[11:00am-12:00pm] VS 2005/C#/.NET Intro
[12:30pm-2:45pm] In depth C# Coverage*
[3:00pm-4:30pm] Lab Time working w/ C#

*During the in depth section David covered many C# features which are important to know understand, and use C#. David covered:

    Delegates
    Events
    File I/O
    Interfaces
    .NET Reflector (DLLS)
    Networking
    Data Access
    Loads of VS Tips & Tricks

David also made a “fully working web browser” in only 8 minutes!

I think i’m working on about three projects now. Today definitly helped me out. David surely got me thinking in many aspects as to what i can do. He did a great job of challenging the coding styles of people who came

If you code, code explicitly…or i will find you, and i wont be happy.

David also did a good job of emphasizing that if you plan on taking on a project, do NOT reinvent the wheel, however take what’s given to you and run with it. Several times he mentioned the worst thing that could happen is you succeed in making an impact on the world.

The event seemed to go over rather well, I counted 25 students present during the middle of the presentation. I’m happy with that for a first presentation, but will also serve as our starting point from which to improve ourselves.

and Beyond:

Mike and I have also got a few things coming up in the near future; All of the SA’s are fortunate enough to have MS fly us all out to Redmond on Oct.1st for the SA Summit. That is something which i’m really looking forward to. It’s quite a feeling to know that Microsoft takes such an effort in its Student Ambassador program to provide an event of this magnitude to its SA’s.

Also, GVINPC or the Grand Valley Intercollegiate .NET Programming Competition. GVINPC will be a day long event promoting the use of .NET technology to solve problems using the .NET framework and its languages. Students will form teams consisting of up to four (4) people and will be asked to tackle a series of business minded programming problems which have been created by professionals. Judges will consist of local business professionals as well as Microsoft Employees. Judges will determine how many points problems earn based on completed tasks while extra points can be awarded for extra features. Mike and I have the framework for the event ironed out, now we’ve just got to get the wheels turning and put it into action. We are hoping the event takes place in late October.

Well, i guess that all for now.

-MP

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Money, Time, Knowledge, and a happy median?

Ok, so this summer has made me realize that this current time in my life “the college years” could be a potential catastrophy. I’ve thought about it and just this summer alone i’ve been trying to balance a work schedule, a workout schedule, trying to be motivated enough to learn some .NET (C#) on my own, and well…save money. Buying a car, new or used, does quite a number on your shall we say money you are will to spend. Oh and i need to fit a personal life in there too!?

Honestly my family purchased a summer cottage a few years back and this year i’ve only been up there for three (3) days! ok maybe it’s not one of my favorite things, but it is part of my life. I’ve spent the majority of my summer working or with my girlfriend, and well if i really want to (i REALLY, REALLY want to) get an internship with Microsoft next summer i should really be studying up on Visual Studio and C#.

Well i’ve got about 3 weeks left to study, plan for this year at GV as student ambassador, workout, and prepare for the coming school year. I should be ready. But i could always use a bit of luck!

-MP

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“Ambassador? For what country?” — My Dad

Wow!

What else do I say… I was chosen to be a Microsoft Student Ambassador for the 2005-2006 school year. I’d also like to congratulate Mike Seeber who, along with myself, was also was awarded the position for Grand Valley. It’s funny getting that news after working a 9 and a half hour shift at work. I’d like to thank Kevin, Tracy, and everyone else involved in the selection process. I’d also like to congratulate Kevin on the recent addition to his family. Also, i must thank Eric Maino. Hell– I don’t think i’d have half the inspiration and motivation if i hadn’t met the guy. If he’s not pointing out what i can do to fix my code, he’s certainly the one to get my brain going so i can think of what to code next.

I guess i’m anxious in a whole new way now. I’ve been toying with ideas of what i’d like to do for next year, but now that i know for sure that i’ve got the position, now i really want to bust my butt to make my ideas a reality. My main priority is improving the overall status and quality of the Grand Valley Computer Science and Information Systems Club (TechGV). I’m also looking forward to working with Mike Seeber, along with the other Michigan SA’s this year. Without letting any of the “cats out of the bag,” so to speak, I’m looking forward to this coming school year with great excitement and enthusiasm.

Alas, this is only one of the two things which i’ve been holding my breath for. I’m still waiting to hear back about a possible job at Custom Data Solutions. The past few weeks have been an off and on game of phone tag trying to find out the status of their interest in my as a potential employee. When i got home from work tonight, my brother gave me a message in his cryptic, left handed, etching

Micheal Nudi called. From Cust. Data Solutions. You call tomorrow.

So hopefully this will be good news. Hopefully i will actually get to talk to Mr. Nudi.

Now, i’ve got to go to bed, i’ve got Statistics at 7:20am!
-MP

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Student Ambassador Awards….are still yet to be delivered

Ok, so honestly…i must have checked my email box at least 4 dozen times today waiting for the letter about the Microsoft Student Ambassador Award. So far no email.

So far today i have:
Gone to Stats Class
Fidgeted (I can’t believe that is a word!) with my blog layout, i’m still not too happy
Worked through 4 chapters of C# for Dummies
Gone to the library to return books

I just got off of the phone with MS employee, and ex-Grand Valley Student Ambassador, Eric Maino. Eric told me that although it is about 11pm here in Michigan and according to the Student Ambassador website, awards will be sent out on June 7th, things have been postponed for a few reasons…

Tracy Hackney, the ever-so-informitive woman who did my phone screening still hadn’t received the final information from the programs owner. Hopefully by the time that Tracy gets back from working out, approx time 7:30pm Redmond Time (10:30pm Eastern Time) hopefully the information will have been sent to her, so that she can send it out. If not, i was told not to fret, it should be sent out tonight, and if not….hopefully tomorrow morning.

Wish me luck!
-MP

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