Imago from Chrysalis

My experience in IS101 would always be memorable to me. It's where I experienced having fun despite being challenged to try things I have never done before, thus, making me a better individual both with in-class skills and outside of class where I can apply said skills practically.

The course was confusing at times, the names of assigned tasks being a letter and a number made it hard for me to keep track of which thing is which. However, my seatmate Kevin has been really helpful. Not only that but he always inspired me to do more than just enough, he always did things perfectly and as early as possible. This kind of self-discipline is one of a kind and makes me want to become a better student and person just like he is.

Another person who inspired me to do better is Vania. We never got to talk a lot, and we only bonded over the similarities in culture after creating and presenting a slideshow together. She told me that she is not fluent in English and often struggles to explain things that she's capable of explaining, but cannot find the English words for. This is inspiring to me because despite living in the United States without her family and not being fluent in a foreign language, she still persevered and gets things done very early, and does her best to make everything perfectly smooth. Being the first to do her presentation, telling me about memorizing her scripts weeks prior to the day of presenting, and wanting to collaborate with someone with no hesitation. I think it makes her brave and I really admire her for it.

Lastly, I of course admire Professor Wu for being the most present and helpful professor I have ever gotten. He would adjust to the students' needs and take time out of his own day to help students when he could just use it to finally get some rest. He never made me or I presume anybody feel small for making mistakes. He always supported and rooted for me, and even the most pessimistic students. He wants everyone to do well not only in his class, but outside in the real world.

What I've gained from this class and its people is inspiration, motivation, and a lot of new set of skills (like Excel) that I can apply for my day to day life, for the times I'd feel like there is no hope for me and I'm bound to fail. I would honestly probably think of Kevin & Vania's bravery in trying to do things despite facing struggles.

I chose 6.4.3 - Slide Design Facts as it helped me save time by being short but still really informative. Designing is a very important part of PowerPoint since it is mostly about creativity. Sure, you want to relay information to the listeners in the best and most efficient way. But one of the best methods is to have creative and eye-catching slides. This was the perfect chapter to help you achieve that.

Below is an image I took from mine and Vania's A8 Improved Slideshow Presentation. I know a lot of people didn't like the idea of pairing up with someone to do something, neither did I honestly. But I don't regret it, in fact it's quite the opposite. I really enjoyed everything that came with choosing to step out of my comfort zone. I learned more about Vania and her culture, it was very fun taking an 'imaginary trip' to her home country just by listening to her stories. I also want to dedicate this part of the blog for her. She had everything down to her script prepared, yet she still decided to help me conquer my fear of trying to present as a duo. It completely (in a way) put her back to square one. She had to review the changes I made to her slides, she had to scratch her entire plans and script, she had to make time for me for around a week consistently just to practice with me. 30 mins to an hour consistently everyday, she showed up to our google meets practice on time. For all of these reasons, I commend her and I'm grateful to meet such an amazing classmate! I enjoyed presenting because of her, things became a little less scary.

~~~

Another little side story of what the title means.

Imago is the final and fully developed form of an insect (a butterfly!)

In this stage, it is typically already winged. It has grown from its chrysalis stage to something that can fly, be free, and be capable to do things on its own.

Instar Phase 2

I decided to pick 5.1.1 - Introduction to Excel because this skill is where everything we have learned so far in the entire chapter 5 has stemmed from. I liked this part because it felt like opening up a newly bought book with that fresh 'book smell'. It marked our end from the previous chapter but in a not-so-harsh way. We did not get flooded with complex new information and instead, the 5.1.1 helped us get the hang of the basics before delving into the more complicated features of Excel. 

On the topic of Excel, I think that I performed decently on the Phase 2. However, I feel like it wasn't nearly as good as how I performed in the Phase 1. But I would not be harsh on myself, because as I said; Excel is unfamiliar and new, we made a lot of its new information and features fit in our memory in a limited amount of time. So, if you were just like me who felt like you performed worse than before, please don't fret because you still did well for someone who is presented with new, complicated information to learn! :)

With that being said, I really enjoyed doing A6 Spreadsheet Analysis with Trailer. I had fun with the designing aspect of it while simultaneously learning about Excel's functions because of the contents that the table needed. I think it was a very fun, hands-on assignment that is not too rigorous nor boring. 

A lot of the skills we learned in Phase 2 is practical for application in a lot of things outside the class. If I was working in an office setting, I could definitely use Excel. However, I have no job so I would be using Excel for budgeting. I like to sort out my budget and have certain amounts allocated for the necessities. Excel would surely help me with that.

I believe that I have already been trying my best to do more than what is required by doing 'too much' on the creativity aspect of assignments and projects. But I will keep doing it until this semester ends and until after I graduate. Going above and beyond in things will surely make one's chances at being more successful succeed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little side note about what the title means:

Instar is a stage in the life of an arthropod that they have to go through before they 'grow' and transform into something better. 

Shedding my exuvia

The Phase 1 of IS101 was full of surprises. The entire course feels nothing like any of the classes I have taken before, and I mean it in a good way. I think I did alright—I have always been mediocre—I did not become a part of the 'failing' group that needs to catch up, but I was not a part of the group that excels either. What I need to do differently is definitely manage my time better, and of course, strengthen my mental stability. I can't always just stay in my comfort zone because things feel overwhelming. I need to toughen up and push through. I want to stand out and excel like the others, because that is what's going to help me succeed in this class and in the future outside of it.

I picked 4.2.2 - The Clipboard. This is very useful for me, as I am someone who loves to use the em dash (—), as you can see in the paragraph above. The problem is, I don't see the em dash anywhere on my laptop keyboard. So I decided to use the clipboard for storing symbols that I cannot find anywhere on my keyboard in the pinned section. This is especially useful for students who need citations and references while doing their research papers, saving links of articles, names, and blocks of texts, instead of having to rewrite everything themselves.

To prepare for the upcoming MO-110 Word certification exam, I took the advice of my awesome seatmate, Kevin. He seems to be one of the best students in class. He told me to just keep redoing everything that I have been getting wrong in the practice tests, and eventually it'll stick.

Something to share with the World Wide Web is the fact that all of us are too distracted by social media trends, government problems, old men's wars fought by and sacrificed for by the youth or younger adults, and our own problems as we try our best to survive this chaotic world. We don't even notice or know about the more important news anymore: There's a LOT of bizarre things happening to our planet Earth, the North Pole's magnetic field changing rapidly being one of them. And I wish people would unite to help figure it out and remedy our planet's issues before it's too late for all of us.

〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜〜

A little note to explain what the title means: It is an analogy of improvement.

"In biology, exuviae (singular: exuvia) refers to the shed exoskeleton or outer covering of an arthropod (like insects, crustaceans, and spiders) after molting. Essentially, it’s the ‘skin’ they leave behind after growing."

Danielson, Bill. “Speaking of Nature: Ever Heard of an Exuvia? A Triumphant Use of Unexpected Science Vocabulary.” The Greenfield Recorder, 29 July 2025.

Small Habits Make Big Differences

Hello everyone. I'm Chae, an aspiring future defense tech engineer with a sweet-treats-therapy dependency. 

When I started attending a class at CSN, I chose to do it online and remotely first. I was anxious, afraid, and overthinking things. I thought that people would talk in an accent I would not understand without subtitles, and use fancy words I would not comprehend without looking up "What is this fancy word's synonym?" on Google. Now, I am here taking multiple in-person classes, IS 101 being one of them, and never once did I regret going out to learn. Every mispronunciation, forgotten thing, silly mistake, and stupid idea I formed or made over the course of 3 years studying at CSN has helped me grow and learn.

I realized that I should never immediately say no to something before I even get to try it, you never actually lose something. If anything, you gained something, and that is the knowledge about oneself. You get to know whether or not you like or dislike certain things; you get to know yourself better in general.

For my discussion answer, I chose 3.4.1 — Navigating through a Word document. My experience with using this skill went pretty well. I started using it when I was in my middle school's journalism club almost a decade ago. I think its user interface is very intuitive, no matter how much they update it. Almost everything has a name label to show what purpose it serves, and if not, its symbol shows exactly what it is or what it would do. The only ones that were quite tough to figure out for me were the References and Mailing, although it only takes a few clicks and looking around for you to finally understand what each button does. Finding out each button's purpose by testing them out individually first worked well for me.

One thing I’ve learned from such a trivial habit (which is testing things out that I'm unfamiliar with) is that most things become less intimidating once you actually first try them out all by yourself, instead of instantly asking for help or an answer. Try the different methods you've come up with first. This way, you learn all sorts of methods and their effectiveness, efficiency, and which method is best for whichever situation. This also helps with your problem-solving skills, as it tests out your ability to find solutions to different problems outside of just a Word document or an application. 

Start with your own approach and see where it leads. You'll be surprised how such a small habit can make a big difference in your life.