My Latest Adventure

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ree! I retired over two years ago and guess what I do now? Anything I want. (The only thing is, you have to be OLD.) These are the Golden Years and I have no intention of going back to work. In my working days, we used the MAC at work. I could navigate fairly well, even though I didn't understand what was going on "behind the scenes." When I got stuck, I could call on many nearby experts. No longer at work and the experts out of range, I looked at my PC with fear and trepidation. I couldn't even remember how to set the margins anymore. What in the world is Windows 95? What is a modem? How do I get on the Internet? What kind of language is HTML?

If (not when) I got stuck, no one was going to come to my aid. I was going to have to learn how to be my own resource. Luckily for me, a wonderful computer school was nearby, so... back to school for me to learn yet another language.

Regional Occupational Program ROP is a California State-funded program, accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. The Computer Applications courses are designed for adult learners who want to learn how to use computers or want to update their computer knowledge. No previous computer experience is required to enroll.

Instruction is individualized, allowing students to progress at their own pace. Certificates are awarded upon successful completion of subject areas. ROP classes are tuition free. Students pay a small, non-refundable lab-use fee upon enrollment and purchase their own books. Our teachers are wonderful and very patient with us. See our sampling of available applications from the ROP Web Page owerpoint The first time I saw someone give their PowerPoint presentation in class, my eyes popped out of my head. Ooooooo, how did they do that? The letters and pictures were flying around just like they do on television. That's for me! It really got my creative juices flowing. As I was creating my own presentation, I could envision the slides of my ESL class on the big screen at church. What fun it was to plan and watch the dreams come true. The students in my ESL class giggled, laughed and poked each other with delight as they viewed themselves in the PowerPoint slide presentation. They were the stars of the show! he Web is calling.... Getting on the Internet was a bit intimidating. There are so many choices, so many places to go, so many things to explore. All these signs were blinking at me, I was not sure which one to punch. A little practice at class helped me get rid of the jitters. Now at home, I am sure that I have only been on the Web for 20 minutes, when my husband comes in and looks at me with "slanty eyes". Oops...I couldn't believe I had been playing for 3 hours. Now I'm working on my own Web page. (How am I doing?) It's a challenge to learn how to hand-code this Web page stuff. Now it's HTML - will I ever be through with learning new languages?

There is always something new to learn!

	essons learned the hard way: (Is there some other way?           Someone please tell me!) Sugar Blues Journaling How to Be at Peace Keeping the Peace Where Wisdom Hides Facing the Pain The Best Lesson I Ever Learned omments? Questions? Complaints? Please e-mail them to Joanne:   jrmeads@worldnet.att.net

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ESL Ministry

Walnut Creek Presbyterian Church

1801 Lacassie Avenue  Walnut Creek  California 94596   925-935-1574

Joanne Rae Meads  jrmeads@worldnet.att.net

September 16, 1999

© 1999 Joanne Meads, All Rights Reserved