We started in Denver on Day 7 (is it Thursday? Wednesday? oh well, day 7 it is), bright and early again, after another night of sleeping on the bus (we drove 616 miles overnight, and through a thunder storm, which I did NOT feel at all). I am started to like the rocking-left-and-right sleep. Christopher claimed that he couldn’t shake off his “bus” legs when walking, but I suspected he just wanted an excuse to practice his funny walks.
Our first stop is Red Rock Community College. Did I mention I love visiting schools? The environment of learning and knowledge transfer excites me. Plus seeing so many people carrying packages full of books and laptop totally brings back my not-so-distant memory as a student. :)
Many thanks go to Christie Burton of Red Rock Community College, who was a great hostess to us. She shared with us her thoughts as educator on the benefit of certifications, and what they are doing to connect students with the IT industry. See the video below:
We met with a group of energetic students and faculty. Some of the students are about to graduate, some just started. They were jumping up and down when we show the Power of Student video – it is a very cool video. Of course us giving out “Certified PC” hats for anyone who could answer questions right helped bump up the energy a bit too. ;)
We also met a 17-year-old student, Nathan, who already had a Windows Vista certification, and is studying for his second certification. And if I remember correctly (pardon me, the day is long, and my memory is blurred), he also won the “Are You Certifiable” live game show. Way to go, Nathan! :)
Joey’s Windows 7 presentation and demo drew the most “wow” and “aaaaah”. Bitlocker to go, direct access all get lots of nodding (I personally LOVE the direct access, now that I don’t have to type in the password/username every single time). But when he started showing things like the Problem Step Recorder, like Aero Shake, like docking the windows on the left and right so it’s easy to see both, I could just feel the energy shoot up a notch. Buzzes fill the room, and I heard “cool” here and there. I bet many of them will go home and download the Windows 7 RC tonight! :D Which makes me think, why it is so easy falling in love with Windows 7, so easy for us to talk about it? It’s because it is well designed, with helping people solve problems, making their lives easier as objective. Everything we do, that should be the one question we ask ourselves.