It's been short, but great. My final blog

My final blog:

Hello again to all! Well it’s been a busy summer for me with moving, work, and applying for new jobs. I have good news with my adventure of applying for work, and that is a have landed a job with the Department of Veterans Affairs in Madison!! I know in the last blog I wrote I was telling you how much I liked working for the company Crossmark. I like it a lot, working for Crossmark, but with it only being a part time job I needed something more. Crossmark has given me a lot of experience in a short time I had. Even after I got the job at Crossmark in Milwaukee I never stopped applying for jobs. In these times can you really afford to stop looking for that good job? So I continued to pursue a good quality job that I can start a good solid career in, knowing that meant maybe I’d have to move again. Again in these tough economic times can you really afford to limit yourself to one geographical area? My advice is if you can get outside the box and can move try it. Knowing there was a possibility that I’d be moving again I was turned onto applying for Federal work. I applied for Federal jobs in Milwaukee and Madison, with Madison giving me a call to come in for an interview. Well as you can imagine one thing lead to another and bam I got a call with a job offer!! But this is the Federal Government we’re talking about this was a long process to get this job, but in the end it was worth it. So this will be most likely my last blog for MPTC as I will be working full time and going to school full time online. It’s been a short time blogging for Moraine Park, but a great one. Everyone has been really helpful with getting me setup and going with this blog and I hate to see it end with a new semester coming up to blog about. The reason I’m giving up blogging is a fear I won’t have enough time to balance moving again, working, and school. I like blogging it’s a great way to get your side of the story out there and let people know what’s going on here at Moraine Park. For the time being I will be taking online classes this fall through Moraine Park, but ultimately I will probably end up transferring to a technical college down by Madison. Being a traditionalist with taking face to face classes and working full time it won’t be feasible to drive up to a MPTC campus for night classes. But at Moraine Park transferring is another action you can take to help you attain your degree no matter where life takes you, for example me. I’ve heard the transfer process is easy and painless so we’ll see when it comes to that further down the line. Until then I hope everyone has a great fall semester at MPTC. And I’d like to say thank you to everyone for their help, guidance, friendship, and leadership the past year at MPTC, Thank you so much!

update on my summer

Update on my summer

 

Hope summer is going well for everyone! I’m writing today to give an update on how I’m doing in my new surroundings in Milwaukee. My merchandising job is going great! I’m learning a lot and meeting so many new people while doing it. I’ll give you a brief idea of what I do, I service Walmarts and Sam’s Clubs in the Milwaukee area, I do not work for them, I work for a company called Crossmark. Crossmark is based out of Texas and is a very large merchandising company all across the nation. One of the biggest companies we do work for is Beckett. Beckett is the manufacturer of trading cards, football, baseball, magic, Pokemon, you get the idea. Each Walmart’s trading card section size varies; the sections range from 4 feet to 24 feet. The stores I’m doing now have an eight foot section. It’s not too big nor is it too small. Beckett is just one of many vendors we do work for. Each week projects drop into our queue to do. I go at the beginning of each week and schedule all my work for that week, that’s the nice part of the job. Right now I’m working a store in Greenfield and West Allis, both are great stores and I like doing this job. This job has great experience building to it and either one day I’ll move up with this company or I will get another job due to the experience I’m gaining. Well that’s it for this update; stay tuned for more updates down the road…

My New Adventure

My New Adventure

 

Hello again to all! Today I’m writing about a new adventure in my life. Recently I moved in the past month from Fond du Lac to Milwaukee. Why do you say I moved? Well I got a job in merchandising for a large corporate company in Milwaukee. This will give me much needed experience to make it in marketing in the future. If you remember I’m attending Moraine Park to attain a Business Management/Marketing degree. The way businesses are going these days, not hiring without experience, this job will get me that experience that everyone wants. That’s the key isn’t it? When you get out of college and are applying for jobs they all want experience and you always end up wondering how the heck do I get what they need? Well I got a break in my applying for as many jobs as a person can possible do, and one called back for an interview. The only catch is that it was in Milwaukee. I knew when I was applying for jobs that I needed to apply outside of Fond du Lac in the surrounding areas. Since the economy isn’t picking up anytime soon the odds of getting what I needed in a job for experience in town was very minimal.

My advice to exiting students looking for work or anyone who is looking for work is trying something out of the box, like applying a little further than you’d like, but remembering it can be temporary. Or by applying and accepting a job further than you like might mean a start of a new life, sometimes things don’t come as easy as you’d like them to, sometimes you got to do it the hard way.

Anyways I’m down here in Milwaukee and will be for some time, I plan on attending Moraine Park’s West Bend Campus this fall. The West Bend Campus for me is about a 45 minute drive which isn’t that bad. I plan on taking more online and blended classes than traditional. I’ve always liked traditional classes as they work best for me; I know everyone has their preference but traditional style is what I liked and learned the best from. Another example of how MPTC is keeping up with the changing student is that you have options. Traditional classes are now not going to be doable for me, but no fear, as MPTC has online classes or blended which means that it’s a mixture of in the classroom and online. Depending on the instructor you could be online more than in the classroom or vice versa. MPTC is a great place to get an education, if you can’t continue like I can’t right now to do one option there’s more to choose from! So don’t make an excuse of how your life is too busy for higher education, the college for you is right in front of you at MPTC.

End of Semester Wrap

End of Semester Wrap-Up

 

            Well here we are at the end of another great semester and year at Moraine Park Technical College. For me this marks my 2^nd full semester at Moraine Park. It was an exciting year full of challenges, learning, and trying new things. I’ve met a lot of people this past year and hope to stay in touch with most of them as we go onward with our own lives and fulfilling our quest of higher education. This past year MPTC has taught me not to be afraid of trying new things. Things I normally wouldn’t have done like attending the Wisconsin Student Leadership Conference in Green Bay or to be a part of the Last Blast celebration. By doing those two events, out of many, I met so many new people and have learned so much about myself. The things I have learned in and out of college in the past year will help me academically and personally. Here’s my advice to new students or students, who have thought of trying new things, DO IT! MPTC is a great place to get involved. Everyone has one goal in mind and that is student success. Without successful students, MPTC wouldn’t be much of a college would it? All three campuses; Beaver Dam, West Bend, and Fond du Lac, need people to lead student clubs, student senate, help setup events, and to help MPTC be a great place. I’d like to say thank you to all my instructors and classmates for making this past semester/year a great one!

 

Student Awards Banquet

 

            Recently I attended the student awards banquet that is held to honor students for their service to the college. Being involved in Student Senate this year acting as the vice-president, I was nominated for a Student Meritorious Award. Like I stated in my blog before I was saying how I wanted to spend my free time volunteering to a good cause, that’s exactly what I did. I never expected to be rewarded for my time, instead I felt good knowing that my spare time was spent wisely and will benefit in the future.

Distinguished Alumnus Award Recipient Mike Staral

            The awards banquet was held at The Camelot Golf Course in Lomira. This banquet includes all three campuses, Beaver Dam, West Bend, and Fond du Lac. A reception with hors d’ oeuvres began at 5:30, with dinner following at 6:00. The banquet began at 7:00 sharp. The first award went to Mike Staral the 2013 Distinguished Alumnus Award. He talked in his speech how he graduated from a technical college and how he has achieved success since then. It was very inspiring to see how a technical school grad like Mike made it to being a vice-president of a company, only from having a technical education. After Mike finished, everybody that was inducted into the Phi Theta Kappa Honor Society this year was asked to stand and be applauded for their hard work and dedication. I was able to stand and be applauded for my induction. The next award in the banquet was for MPACTE and MPFT scholarship recipients, as their names were called they walked across the stage at the front of the hall, shook hands with the President of Moraine Park, Dr. Sheila Ruhland and had their picture taken. The next award was for Who’s Who Among Students in American Universities and Colleges. This award was for second year students who have a GPA higher than 3.25 and are involved in extracurricular activities. They were called up, walked across the stage, shook hands with the president, and had their picture taken. Technical Achievement Awards were the next to be presented. This award is geared for one-year technical diploma students. Taken into consideration is GPA, participation in the classroom, and other contributions. After the last student walked off the stage, the next award up was the Meritorious Award.

 

The Meritorious Award is for students who have served the college through their leadership and participation in co-curricular activities such as being involved with Student Clubs, Student Government, or other volunteer opportunities. I myself was in this group and got to go up on stage in front of my peers, instructors, and family. It felt good being recognized for the time spent volunteering over the past year. After the final recipient walked off the stage they went on to honor those who have served their time being the presidents of Student Senate for each campus. After the recognition of the presidents of all three campuses, the District Student Ambassador Award Honors were up. This was a passing of the torch so to speak from one student ambassador to the future ambassador.

 

After the former and present ambassador did their secret handshake to act as the passing of the torch, that drew laughs from the audience; it then was time to present the student of the year award. Toni Griesmer was the recipient of this grand award. In his speech he talked about how he had come into college having a mediocre attitude, and finding out after his first day that he would have to have the right attitude towards college. Well he obviously found the right attitude because he was standing in front of us all receiving the Student of the Year Award and giving an inspiring speech.

            This banquet was another great way to see how being involved in your college has benefits. I honestly never knew of this or had wanted anything in return for my time volunteering at Moraine Park. My main goal was to just spend my free time wisely. Well I spent it wisely and in the end I got something in return which makes me feel a since of accomplishment towards my education knowing I’m on the right track. So don’t be afraid of getting involved in activities at MPTC. My experience has been nothing but a good experience. Our student involvement specialists at each campus are there to help you and guide you during your venture. MPTC is a great place to learn and a great place to get involved with!  

In picture above is members of Fond du Lac Student Senate who received awards along with our student life director at the very left, Sam. Serving as Vice-President for the last year here at MPTC for FDL Student Senate I'd like to say thank you to all the Senators for your participation and to Sam!

 

Last Blast

            Hello again! Today I want to write about my experience at the Last Blast Event at Moraine Park’s Fond du Lac campus. The Last Blast is an event for students and staff to come relax and enjoy the entertainment, free lunch, door prizes, and a receive a free shirt. It was held on April 24 from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. This year’s theme was “blast from the past” incorporating oldies songs, root beer floats, and old style décor such as a jukebox and classic cars. The entertainment for the event was a ventriloquist who incorporated students and faculty into his show, which earned laughs from the audience.

            Before the event could start it was brought to my attention that they needed help to set up for the event. I gladly volunteered to help the night before. We were very productive that Tuesday night before the event, setting up what we could. I helped set up the classic car cut outs and helped with the balloons. That Tuesday night we got as far as we could go and would come in on Wednesday morning to finish the set up. We all arrived around 9:00 a.m. Wednesday morning to set up what was left. I helped with the photo booth and the free t-shirt stand. Everything went well and went quickly and efficiently and I would like to thank everyone that was there Tuesday night and Wednesday. Without all the help we wouldn’t have been able to pull it off.  

            This event was quite popular! Out of the 300 free t-shirts we had we gave away all but 30 or so. I’ve never seen the cafeteria this packed for an event. As a student or staff member you really couldn’t afford to miss this event. Lunch was provided to you at no cost with a student or staff ID or if no ID was shown you needed only to pay $1 for lunch. There were 53 door prizes given away including; Summerfest tickets, Brewers tickets, State Fair tickets, folding chairs, a grill, gift cards, and so much more. The door prizes were open to all who attended the event. I myself was lucky enough to win a Wal-Mart gift card! I attended the t-shirt stand with 4 other people we’d all take turns attending to the booth while each other got their meal. It was nice to give away free t-shirts and say hello and chat with students and faculty members passing by. I know I saw quite a few familiar faces that came through. But it also was a good time to say hello and chat with unfamiliar faces. Students and staff are very friendly at MPTC, at events like this I encourage you to take the time and go say hi to an unfamiliar face, who knows it could be a beginning of a brand new relationship.

 

Campus Clean-up Day

This past year I have been a part of Moraine P ark’s Student Senate serving as the vice-president. My big push personally was to be involved with the college and to put my free time to good use by volunteering. In the past year I have lead Student Senate meetings and volunteered for various events when needed. The most recent volunteering I did was Student Senate Campus Clean-up Day.

            Campus Clean-up Day is where students go out and clean up campus. You’re doing exactly what the event is called. As a student at Moraine Park, this event was important to me because we were cleaning the campus we attend every day. As the semester went on you could see careless people throwing garbage where it didn’t belong and making our campus look dirty. As a student at MPTC I want the college to have a good image along with making sure our campuses (Fond du Lac, West Bend, Beaver Dam) are all presentable. You never know who might be coming in to one of the campuses, and sometimes appearance is very important.

            All of the students involved arrived around 11:30 in the cafeteria. We split up into groups that would each take a section of the campus. My group went out to the O wing entrance and parking lot. We began cleaning up everything immediately, picking up everything that was making our campus dirty. It was really neat to see everyone come together for a short time and just get down to business. Everyone that attended really made this event go quick and easy. I know Campus Clean-up Day isn’t as lavish as a lunch ‘n learn or last blast event, but it needs to be done every year. With every ones help we finished with just over an hour of cleaning.

            What I learned from this event was that no matter what it is you’re volunteering for it is worth it. Volunteering makes you feel good and have a sense of accomplishment. In this case I was volunteering my time to clean up the Fond du Lac MPTC campus I attend every week. It gave me a sense of accomplishment to see our campus clean and tidy. And for everyone that attended to help with the clean-up Student Senate put on a free lunch for those who helped. In this case you actually got a tangible thing in return, but in most cases volunteering is for your own satisfaction knowing that you yourself have made a difference in helping someone directly or indirectly.

Welcome

            Hello my name is TJ McEssey and I’m proud to be your newest student blogger here at Moraine Park Technical College. I’m originally from the Fond du Lac area and I graduated from Fond du Lac High School in 2003. After high school, I attended Fox Valley Technical College in Appleton where I graduated with a one year technical degree in heavy-duty diesel mechanics. As the years came and went I knew I wasn’t meant to be a diesel mechanic. My heart was set on something else as it wasn’t set on working on trucks all day and practically talking to no one. I come from a family of entrepreneurs; my dad, grandfather and uncle owned and operated their own businesses. It’s in my blood to go into business; I just didn’t know it until later in life. It seems strange, but life always seems to point you in the direction you need to go. You just need to look for it, or the opportunity it presents might go by with no warning.

 I was laid off from my most recent diesel mechanic job in the fall of 2011. After that happened I knew this was my opportunity to go back to school and do what I really wanted to do for a career. They say it’s always hard to change careers, but with my positive attitude and young age going for me there’s nothing I can’t do when I put my mind to it. I quickly enrolled at MPTC and began taking classes towards a business management degree with an emphasis in marketing. I enlisted my time into student senate in the fall of 2012; I’m currently serving as vice-president on the Fond du Lac campus. In my first year of college I have learned so much and met so many wonderful people.

 My hopes are to share what goes on here at MPTC to past, current, and future students. Because of my involvement with student senate I will give you an inside look into what we are doing,  what we plan on doing, along with events taking place at all three campuses. I will also blog about my journey as a student at MPTC. MPTC is a great place to learn and be involved. I hope you will follow me and my blog and see what really happens at this great place.