Sometimes I find myself wondering "How on earth did I get this job?"
I have no formal training in computers. My only courses on computers are the typing class I took in High School and the Intro to Computers I took at the University of North Texas ("this is a computer, this is a mouse, this is how you turn the computer on").
How did I get this job? Well in the Fall of 2002 I was in a class called Pedagogy. We spent a class period in the Ed Lab and after the lady (who had my current job) was done explaining things people had questions. For some reason it just made sense to me and I helped the person to the right of me, then the person to the left, the person behind me... next thing I knew I was running around the lab helping most of the other students. The lady in charge of the lab asked me if I wanted a job in the Spring... I was like... a job? Working with computers? Seriously? I can do that.... And I did. I began working in the lab in the Spring of 2003 and worked through the end of Summer 2004 when I left to go Student Teaching.
I came back to work on my Masters in January of 2005 and asked her if she still had a spot in the lab for me and she said yes. I worked in the lab that Spring and in the middle of the summer when she left I found myself taking over for her.
*boggle*
85% of what I know about computers I learned on my own or from necessity to help someone else.
I've learned quite a bit in Dr. M's classes... a lot of that has been on rhetoric and web content and such...
And now I find myself helping fellow students and faculty members with a multitude of computer, printer, fax, copier, projector, software, email, chat, etc problems/questions. People with PhD's asking me how to do something. heh... It boggles the mind. Truly.
What I'm afraid of is: When/if I get hired for a teaching job and they see computers on my resume and they expect me to handle all the techy stuff for the school. I feel ok in saying I'm comfortable with various software, but by no means am I an expert on the hardware. There's always been other people that have done that.
/sigh
Maybe I'll go get another Masters or a PhD in Educational Technology.