Newspaper Stains

It seems that web designers have inherited a significant amount of their technical lingo and terminology from the world of print.

I think this circumstance has resulted mostly because web design has its origins in graphic design, which folks have been using for centuries in newspaper and magazine design.

I think it's all a frame of reference. Before the arrival of web design, graphic design was the closest activity people had that bore any resemblance to it. Adopting terms like 'column' or even 'page' made web design more clear and tangible.

While the capabilities of web design has evolved far beyond graphic design, so has its terminology. The old newspaper terms still being used now have added meaning, and I believe, remain relevant. Language has never been static.

Academia and Forklifts

I’ve found, in some unlikely situations, hands-on value in some of the abstract concepts and critical thinking skills I learned from my earlier scholarly pursuits in college.

About 20 years ago, I earned a Bachelor's degree in journalism with a minor in political science from the University of Missouri. Courses in literature, English and the social sciences made up the core of my curriculum. I sidestepped taking any math and science classes.

Yes, my lack of technical expertise did put some constraints on what kind of jobs I could get after graduation. However, I was able to apply language and critical thinking skills to understanding the meanings of words and concepts, and thereby understand new concepts and instructions in the workplace more easily and quickly.

Perhaps, it's not surprising that I used this advantage in landing many of the jobs I landed immediately after graduating, which were in radio broadcasting. However, as the years passed, my career path took many twists and turns. I’ve used this proficiency to my advantage in some of my more recent jobs in the most unlikely of settings, such as driving a fork truck on a shipping and receiving dock. Because of my indirect and veiled educational benefit, I can remember numerous times defending my schooling as a worthwhile undertaking to my factory co-workers.

I’m hoping, however, to remove some of the constraints I've faced in many of my workplaces by making up some of the technical deficiencies I have with my technical management education I'm presently getting from DeVry University. This is especially true for me in information technology.