Following is an interview that took place within the farthest and most inaccessible parts of my mind. It was conducted as my response to a real assignment for a course called EDUC762 – Assessment in E-Learning that is being conducted at UW-Stout. I kid you not. While the interviewee is a real person, the interviewer is not. Or at least, I hope he hasn’t manifested himself in the human form yet.
Joe College: Why have you chosen this course, this university and/or this program?
Chris Martin: While studying at another online university, I became aware of UW-Stout while completing an assignment that included a research of the most recent winners of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. To honor the memory of the former Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige, the award is given annually by the President of the United States to businesses, and to educational, health care and nonprofit organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results. Long story short, I saw where UW-Stout was the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient in the category of higher education. For this reason, I felt a strong inclination to place myself in an academic environment where I would be challenged to set new goals that would stretch my mind into something that it was not the day before.
Joe College: Tell me about your background, experiences, and/or skills.
Chris Martin: As a teen growing up on the inner-city streets of Los Angeles, California, I was constantly tempted by peer-pressure to join a street gang. But I chose to focus my energies in a more positive manner by participating in the athletic programs that were available to me at my local high-school. Needless to say by becoming involved and excelling in athletics (namely varsity football), I was steered away from the unproductive, anti-social behaviors of gang life, into more positive team-building activities, that featured a concern for others over concern for self. As I gained more insight about the real world, I found that I had an interest in the world of computers. Here is where I spent the last 25 years of my life, working for large companies in several areas of the computer industry.
Joe College: What do you expect from this course?
Chris Martin: Since education is the primary stepping stone to achieving the American dream, I see where this course could focus my efforts in the right direction, by providing me with the tools needed to turn my dream into a reality. I am referring to my dream of combining my past work experiences with my education, in such a way that will make I possible for me to become an adjunct professor at the community college level.
Joe College: Who is that special someone, thing or event that you cherish and would never want to give up ?
Chris Martin: Looking back, the one event that has stayed in my mind for over 20 years is the time I learned to ski in Denver, Colorado. The place was Keystone Ski Resort and the year was 1989. The experience was not so much painful as it was more of a period of enlightenment. I am referring to the fact that kids seem to have a spirit of reckless abandonment when it comes to facing the unknown. I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here, so I’ll provide a little background. After a brief lesson ( it lasted 1 hour) in the proper way to control my skis (my nose ran like the Mississippi River, as it was cold as heck out there), we climbed into the ski lift that would carry us to the top of the beginner’s ski slope. As I looked back over my shoulder, I soon realized that the beginner’s slope was much higher than the top of the ski resort. This caused some considerable concern for me, as I was unsure if I could maintain the speed at which I descended the beginner’s slope. But then again, my ski instructor did teach me how to place my skis in the position that would slow my descent, but I was still unsure of my ability to stop safely after such a short lesson. After arriving at the top of the beginner’s ski slope, it was time to ski. But to my dismay, my legs were frozen with fear. I guess I was really concerned about going over the side of the ski slope as there was only a thin rope that marked that area. (From what I could see during my ascent to the top of the beginner's ski slope, the side of the slope appeared to drop at least 20 feet to the ground.) Then I noticed that the kids that were on the beginner’s slope along side of me, just started to take off. In fact, they looked as if they had been skiing all of their lives. While this made me eager to try my hand at skiing, I still couldn’t get the fact that I could break a leg or two out of my mind. In the end, I had become discombobulated that I had to be helped down the slope by other members in my group. As the kids laughed and called me names, I felt somewhat relieved that I didn’t break a leg or injure myself. But come to think about it, I didn’t really ski at all. I only pretended to be a skier. Now as my memory of that event fades, I long to return to that place, if for no other reason than to admire its beauty. I have resigned myself to the fact that skiing is not for me. So for the time being, I'm relegated to the role of watching others enjoy this wonderful activity. Such is the life of a wanna-be skiier.
Joe College: Why have you chosen this course, this university and/or this program?
Chris Martin: While studying at another online university, I became aware of UW-Stout while completing an assignment that included a research of the most recent winners of the prestigious Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award. To honor the memory of the former Secretary of Commerce, Malcolm Baldrige, the award is given annually by the President of the United States to businesses, and to educational, health care and nonprofit organizations that apply and are judged to be outstanding in seven areas: leadership; strategic planning; customer and market focus; measurement, analysis, and knowledge management; human resource focus; process management; and results. Long story short, I saw where UW-Stout was the first Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award recipient in the category of higher education. For this reason, I felt a strong inclination to place myself in an academic environment where I would be challenged to set new goals that would stretch my mind into something that it was not the day before.
Joe College: Tell me about your background, experiences, and/or skills.
Chris Martin: As a teen growing up on the inner-city streets of Los Angeles, California, I was constantly tempted by peer-pressure to join a street gang. But I chose to focus my energies in a more positive manner by participating in the athletic programs that were available to me at my local high-school. Needless to say by becoming involved and excelling in athletics (namely varsity football), I was steered away from the unproductive, anti-social behaviors of gang life, into more positive team-building activities, that featured a concern for others over concern for self. As I gained more insight about the real world, I found that I had an interest in the world of computers. Here is where I spent the last 25 years of my life, working for large companies in several areas of the computer industry.
Joe College: What do you expect from this course?
Chris Martin: Since education is the primary stepping stone to achieving the American dream, I see where this course could focus my efforts in the right direction, by providing me with the tools needed to turn my dream into a reality. I am referring to my dream of combining my past work experiences with my education, in such a way that will make I possible for me to become an adjunct professor at the community college level.
Joe College: Who is that special someone, thing or event that you cherish and would never want to give up ?
Chris Martin: Looking back, the one event that has stayed in my mind for over 20 years is the time I learned to ski in Denver, Colorado. The place was Keystone Ski Resort and the year was 1989. The experience was not so much painful as it was more of a period of enlightenment. I am referring to the fact that kids seem to have a spirit of reckless abandonment when it comes to facing the unknown. I guess I’m getting ahead of myself here, so I’ll provide a little background. After a brief lesson ( it lasted 1 hour) in the proper way to control my skis (my nose ran like the Mississippi River, as it was cold as heck out there), we climbed into the ski lift that would carry us to the top of the beginner’s ski slope. As I looked back over my shoulder, I soon realized that the beginner’s slope was much higher than the top of the ski resort. This caused some considerable concern for me, as I was unsure if I could maintain the speed at which I descended the beginner’s slope. But then again, my ski instructor did teach me how to place my skis in the position that would slow my descent, but I was still unsure of my ability to stop safely after such a short lesson. After arriving at the top of the beginner’s ski slope, it was time to ski. But to my dismay, my legs were frozen with fear. I guess I was really concerned about going over the side of the ski slope as there was only a thin rope that marked that area. (From what I could see during my ascent to the top of the beginner's ski slope, the side of the slope appeared to drop at least 20 feet to the ground.) Then I noticed that the kids that were on the beginner’s slope along side of me, just started to take off. In fact, they looked as if they had been skiing all of their lives. While this made me eager to try my hand at skiing, I still couldn’t get the fact that I could break a leg or two out of my mind. In the end, I had become discombobulated that I had to be helped down the slope by other members in my group. As the kids laughed and called me names, I felt somewhat relieved that I didn’t break a leg or injure myself. But come to think about it, I didn’t really ski at all. I only pretended to be a skier. Now as my memory of that event fades, I long to return to that place, if for no other reason than to admire its beauty. I have resigned myself to the fact that skiing is not for me. So for the time being, I'm relegated to the role of watching others enjoy this wonderful activity. Such is the life of a wanna-be skiier.
