The end of an Era

Well...it seems just like that my Vista life is over. My 2 years kinda flew by. I learned so much I can't even imagine where to start. Along with tons of software, I also had numerous chances to practice public speaking, attend business meetings on behalf of the company, and interact with all types of diverse & fascinating people. I suppose that's what I'm most thankful for. Also, I've becoming an expert on stretching my dollar-lol

A lot of my time here at The Media Aid Center has been consumed by building and updating our website mediaaidcenter.org It's a shame that I'm just now getting a handle on the whole process, but it takes twice as long when you have high school students in the room who need attention. An important rule I've learned this yr as far as programming & design is "don't reinvent the wheel" ! If there's a 3rd part app or excellent tutorial on a related subject matter, use it ! I mad the mistake of approaching things as if it had never been done before & I had to rely on myself.
My time here has been pretty smooth. My boss is an excellent communicator and always kept a casual and encouraging atmosphere. If money was no issue, I'd probably stay here longer.

I'll be using my two educational stipends to attend an audio school here in the LA/ Hollywood area early next year. I'll also have the time to better focus on my new hobby/website Fantastic Disaster Poetry at www.fdp.me (shameless plug). I'd like to thank everyone involved in making this program work. The conferences were great, I always got paid on time, and the leaders always showed passion for what they do.

Oh and to new Vistas, never make a separate Vista email folder & filter to automatically sort emails. You'll forget to check it for months on in such as myself and not receive important training/conference info on time!

Comment from Edward Gonzales on December 9, 2008 - 6:00pm

Thank you for your service; thanks for the advice. Keep in touch!

Comment from Morgan Sully on December 10, 2008 - 2:33pm

Hi Mike (and Ed!),
Sounds like you did a great stint of service and that you're off to explore other great things for yourself. We didn't chat with each other as much as other VISTAs, but the times we did were awesome.

It's inspiring to see other fellow VISTAs actively exploring what they want out of life, be it school, social change, media arts advocacy or poetry;)

If you want to stay in touch with former CTC VISTAs, we have an alumni (along with current VISTA and fans of CTC VISTA) on the CTC VISTA Project Group on LinkedIn:

http://www.linkedin.com/groups?about=&gid=93820&trk=anet_ug_grppro

It's a great way to stay in touch with other VISTAs, share what you are doing and stay engaged in the network.

Best of luck to you and do keep in touch!

Comment from Edward Gonzales on December 12, 2008 - 5:14pm

Thanks Morgan!