For today’s class, you read the seventh chapter from Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing your summary of the reading. What was his thesis or unity of thought in this chapter? How does his argument in this chapter relate to what he argues throughout the book?

For today’s class, you read the sixth chapter from Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. Spend the first ten minutes writing your summary of the reading. Focus on what you identified as this chapter’s thesis or argument. Type up your response and post it as a comment here before we meet next Monday.

For today’s class, you read Carr, The Shallows, Five. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing a summary of your reading of this chapter. What was Carr’s thesis in this chapter? What were some of the examples that he gives to support his argument? What were some of the names or terms that you researched on your own to help you better understand your reading?

For today’s class, you read the fourth chapter from Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. Spend the first ten minutes of class writing your summary of the reading. Remember that you have until before Monday’s class to type and post your summary as a comment to this blog post.

For today’s class, we delved deeper into Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows and read the third chapter. Before we discuss the reading, spend ten minutes to write a summary of your reading in your notebooks. Type up your summary later, and post it here as a comment to this blog post.

For today’s class, you read the second chapter and digression from Nicholas Carr’s The Shallows. During the first ten minutes of class, write a brief summary of what you read. What was the main point of this chapter (the chapter’s thesis/unity of thought), and how does its point connect to what you see as the book’s overall thesis/unity of thought? Observing the relationships between the thesis of a chapter and a book is a larger form of the kinds of writing that you do in an essay, except the relationship is between the paragraphs and the essay. In both cases, successful writers sustain a unity of thought that connects together supporting evidence, examples, and counter arguments.

Aaron Chen                                                                                                                                       11/6/15

Skyscrapers and building designs have always been one of my interest and something I always wanted to do when I grow up. Being someone who could do these things was my dream profession. My name is Aaron Chen and I’m currently attending New York City College of Technology and I’m majoring in of course, Architectural Technology. For many, architecture might seem intimidating because of the workload and competition and therefore avoid majoring in it, but as for I, my love for architecture outweighs the workload and competition I’m going to face. In my essay, I’ll be guiding you through my roadmap in becoming an architect, my thoughts, and my reasons on becoming an architect. This major fits me best because I have a an interest for design and building, the amount of money an architect makes and I have had two years of education before attending college regarding architecture.

New York City College of Technology is unique in the fact that, their architecture program is the only one of its kind in all of CUNY colleges. While I’m attending City Tech, i would like to receive the associates degree which can be obtained in two years and i would also like to receive the bachelors degree which takes a little longer to obtain, four years. Receiving these two degrees will be a good foundation to my portfolio and hopefully land me the job of my dreams. I say this because with these degrees, I would have knowledge on construction documents, computer application, design and programmatic planning, architectural history and environment system. Learning and knowing this can land me a great job because I already have a set of skills that i can use and provide for whatever firm I’m working for. With this knowledge, i can contribute to the company and design and build the way I always wanted to ever since i was a little kid. City Tech also offers 21st century technology and machines for us to use such as Laser Cutters, 3D Printers, Photoshop, InDesign, Illustrator, AutoCAD, Rhino and many more. City Tech will prepare us for all the technology and programs that firms will be using to complete the jobs. Although City Tech provides students with all of this, the students must be diligent and be willing to work on their own time. Not everything comes to the student, the student must go out of his or her way to study, make models, build and work to achieve the desired grades. To obtain these degrees, students must not fail any classes which means I must get higher than a D in every class and have all my credits. If a student doesn’t achieve a grade higher than a D, then the student must retake the class and redeem themselves. If I can keep my grades above a D, then I’ll be able to receive my degrees and further my education and work in the architectural field.

Being an architect has always been a dream of mine because I always wanted to build and design. I want to build and design not only because it seems fun but because I want to build and design something that will impact the world and leave a name for myself. As a little kid, as I walked around the concrete jungle exploring this amazing city, i was inspired by the amazing facades and unique buildings there were. Seeing all these amazing designs that we are surrounded by inspired me to become an architect and inspire like how I was inspired. I want to be able to create an amazing piece of work that will inspire the future generation of architects to strive for the best and to strive for my goals as well. Like most people, I don’t want to die without achieving anything in life, which is why i want to build something amazing and inspirational so that when I do pass away, my name and art is left behind to continue my legacy. Ever since I was a little kid, I loved architecture and that is why i attended Brooklyn Technical high School. Brooklyn Tech provided two years of architecture classes that i took and loved. We were provided with many resources and amazing teachers. We were taught many programs and we were engraved with a foundation of knowledge for architecture. With this knowledge, i want to strive for better and more knowledge and incorporate what i’ve learned to the real world.Another reason why I want to become an architect is because of the money that comes with being one. According to my online research, an architect makes an average of $79,650 a year which would be around $30 an hour. Not only am I getting paid a good amount for my job, I’m enjoying my job as well. Not all architects make this amount of money. Students who just graduated don’t make this much money because as an architect, we have much more to learn and we can provide a lot to our employers with just a few years of education. You’ll never learn everything about architecture because everyday, something new about architecture comes up. In, order to make a good amount of money as an architect, one must own their own firm, be renowned or provide great quality work. This being said, this is what intrigues me. I like the fact that I’ll be motivated to work more and produce greater quality work because I’ll be rewarded for my hard work. I want a job that can challenge me endlessly and reward me when im doing well, which is why architecture is the perfect career for me.

In conclusion, architecture is the best fitting profession for me because I have great passion for it, I’ve had previous education in this field and the money I can be making for doing the job I love. I want to create and inspire the future generations and challenge myself through the competition in the world and architecture provides me with all of this. By achieving my City Tech degrees, I’ll be able to continue my path down as as an architect and continue doing what I love. City Tech, just like Brooklyn Tech will provide with a great foundation of knowledge so i can tackle the real world and become a world renowned architect.

Works Cited:

New York City College of Technology College catalog 2015-2016 (City Tech) New York: NewYork City Technology, 2015.PDF

For today’s class, you read Carr’s The Shallows, Prologue and Chapter One. Spend the first ten minutes writing a summary of your reading.

You will have until our next Monday class to type, edit, and post your summary as a comment to this blog post.

As we are in the golden age of technology, we have moved away from the traditional way of doing things to more of a tech base way of doing things. My name is Carlos Villalva, and I have decided to enroll in the New York City College of Technology for their Architecture program. For most people, it would have taken them, a long time to decide what college to enter and what major they want to peruse. I already knew Architecture was the career me, before even choosing a college. The City Tech architect programs stand out from the rest of the CUNY College. There are many key points that motivated me to pick this major, for example, the wages, challenges, and having already some basic understanding of architecture. Above all, the one person that pushed me and drive me to pursue this career was my mechanical technology teacher.

What makes City Tech, Architectural program stands out from the rest of the CUNY Colleges? The Architectural Technology program is the only program of its kind in all of the CUNY College. The degree I want to get is the Bachelor of Technology in Architectural Technology, located on the school of Technology and Design. An individual like myself can get their associate degree in two years and their bachelor degree in 4 years. Whether you pursue an associated or bachelor degree is up to you, but regardless this program will prepare you for employment in the architectural field. According to the City Tech catalog,” student in this program have a greater opportunities in employment and in advanced education at the graduate level as a result of the base knowledge gained at City Tech.” (City Tech, 192) By receiving your degree, you would already have knowledge on construction documents, computer application, design and programmatic planning, architectural history and environment system. These degrees open a pathway of learning architecture and similar related fields. Us, the student would be fortunate to be taught by a professor, who are professional in Architecture, to develop core skills and knowledge on this field. City Tech has made this course easier for students like myself, by setting up requires courses that every student will need to take every semester. The require grade to pass every class is a “C”, but this shouldn’t be your goal when getting your degree. The 4-year degree can help prepare students to be more proficient with the 21st-century technologies, by teaching us programs that are used in architecture every day. They consist of architectural model, CAD drafter, architectural model maker, building department expeditor and many more. The two important things that make it worthwhile to go is that the student is given an opportunity to develop their own ideas and creativity through being active in many architecture projects and enabling students to qualify for their architectural registration exam, which if I pass, I’ll become a licensed architect. For many students, this is a great way of learning 21^st century architect programs and having the ability to get a license, at very low price instead of going to an expensive college.

An architect makes a good amount of money to support themselves and their necessity. According to the Bureau, the average architect makes about $73,000 yearly. (United States, 4) Everybody wants to make money, that’s a proven fact, but they do not want to work hard to get it. For me personally, I always perceive that the amount of money an individual makes weekly, determine how good they are in the field. What I mean by this is that, if you have experience and you are a world class architect, then it is only natural that you have the best wage in the field. While for the new upcoming architect, like myself, it’s only right to have a low wage, due to the fact that we are inexperienced. Then there are those individual, who want to get a better wage, without giving that hard work to get it.  The great thing that comes from being an architect is that we will receive raises, depending on how your company want to increase wages by. There are projects that require going places outside of the state or country to be complete, and your company will pay for it, without you even using your own money to go to those places. I’m not going to lie, I want money as well, but I want to earn the highest wage to be a representation of how good of an architect, I am.

There are multiple challenges that could mold an ordinary architect to become something special. Architects are required to be thinking at all times, seeing that an idea can pop out at any time. One of the challenges an architect faces is that even after you graduate with the highest degree, you’ll always be learning, no matter what. People who usually who have a master’s or higher degree would have a stubborn attitude that they do not need to learn anything more. It’s natural to feel that way, but it’s important to remember that architecture is a major that nobody will ever master because there’s always something new to learn. This challenge is not a big problem because I’m an open minded person and like being optimistic. Listening to my superior or professor’s idea, is the best method of learning, as well as hearing my fellow peers. The challenge that fascinates me and my own personal challenge is to build an iconic soccer stadium for a world class team like Real Madrid or national team. This is no easy task that I’ll face because you need to make the stadium itself be appealing for the fan and have it represent something big for the club. There are opportunities for me to achieve these goals, which is to be part of next upcoming FIFA World Cup, stadium designer, which they make the new stadium for the World Cup. The biggest and hardest challenge an architect is the life of an architect. The life of an architect, consist of the individual to be more anti-social, in order to be more focus on your drawing or project for a long period of time. Why is this the life of architect? Well, it’s like that because, in order to be a real architect, you would want to have your drawing or design to be the best it could be. For that to happen to require you to use your own time, outside of class or work to make sure its the best. That’s the sense of pride you have for your project. This single and one challenge is, what separate an architect and the average person. I personally adapted the life of an architect, without even knowing, because almost every day I stay in college until it closes to finish my project at the best it could be. This requires me to stay up all night without sleeping and get to college when it starts and leave when it ends. If you can handle this and accept it like me, then I believe architecture is the right career for you. These are the challenges I strive for as an architect and the personal challenge I want to face.

Whether we want to believe it or not, technology is now becoming a key part of life and on our society. Technology had affected every career in a positive way, especially architecture. When I enter college, I have already knew of two programs that architect use, which are AutoCAD and Revit, both that I am certified, but there are many more programs that are being used, today. Programs for a model design that I never heard of, are sketch up and rhino. Most of these programs aren’t only used by architects but in other major, such as civil engineering, mechanical engineering, and draftsman. Architect borrows programs from other careers, such as illustrator, Photoshop, and InDesign to further improve their design, floor plans, and models to best it could be. You may be asking why bother using a computer when you can do it in real life? Well, since computer drafting has first release, it been a critical complement to most companies, which are used in their project, it has become increasingly used, versatile and efficient in this age of time. I personally used two programs in High School, and let me tell you that it was a wonderful experience. Having a simple multiple floor plan turns into a building by clicking the 3D option was mind blowing at the first time I did it. It gives a sense of pride in your work like you would feel in manual drafting. Even though we go closer to abandoning our roots of doing things, I would strongly recommend students to do manual drafting in order to understand the difference between computer drafting and manual drafting. Computer programs have a lot to do to beat the original way of drafting, but it’s important to note, how far it has gotten to it. Computer drafting is just strings of command put together to generate a building model of it. I was lucky to be exposed to these programs in my high school, but I’m more graceful who taught me the fundamental of these programs.

My high school mentor, Ms. Mulling, is a teacher, I would recommend all mechanical technology students in Thomas Edison to take. Her class is not a class to take too lightly, but she has this drive inside of her that pushes herself to make sure you pass her class with the highest grade possible. Many students felt that she was there to make their life harder, but she tried to show how the real world environment would work and she also tried to prepare us for it. Every day, I felt like she pushed me to my limit to help me find that passion that I’ll need in this major. Not only did she help me find my passion, she indirectly aided me to get my pride. Pride isn’t usually a bad thing because it is a standard that you put in your head to achieve. My pride and passion have affected my work greatly. I remember that I had a project due for my Building Tech 1 class, that wasn’t that hard, but I put the extra work into it because I knew that in order to be the best, I had to put the extra work. That is the mentally I had, not only had it affected that class, but also affected all my classes and me, personally. It was installed when, my teacher told me that I’m better than this and should never be lazy doing my work. One of these, when I’m not pack on work, I would like to visit her again, to ask for guidance and tips on architecture.

In conclusion, I would personally thank Ms. Mulling for helping guide me to pursue this major. I fully understand the challenge I would face in this major, and the challenge I have set myself to push me to follow my dreams. The money I would receive will be a representation of how good I am. Once, I receive my bachelor degree, I would like to celebrate it would Ms. Mullings, to show how much she impacted me not only as a student but as an individual that was lucky to have her as a mentor. The two things, that I would want to make as an architecture is to make a soccer stadium and a house for my parents to live in. Giving something back to the society, is what I want to do in any way, such as remodeling, constructing or designing a building in this city.

Work Cited

“Summary.” U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 Jan. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.

New York City College of Technology College catalog 2015-2016 (City Tech) New York: NewYork City Technology, 2015.PDF

William, Mitchell J. “BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER: Constructing Complexity in the Digital Age.” BEYOND THE IVORY TOWER: Constructing Complexity in the Digital Age. Science, 5 Mar. 2004. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

My name is Rolando Barredo, and I am currently enrolled in New York City College of Technology, a college that is part of the CUNY system. I am aspiring to be an Electro Mechanical Technician. This is the best career for me because technology in general defines me, it pays well for an associates degree, and Electro Mechanical Technology is a STEM major, which is a category of jobs that is still developing, but there are a lot of jobs available with this line of work showing great promise.. That shows good signs of its future. I will discuss what Electro Mechanical Technology involves, as well as going deep into why I chose my major. I will also talk about what choices I have once I complete the Undergraduate program for Electro Mechanical Technology.

Electro Mechanical Technology, or EMT for short, is a major which focuses on the mathematical and hardware aspects of computers and electricity.The full name for the degree is the Associates in Applied Science in Electro Mechanical Technology. This degree is great for anyone that wishes to pursue a bachelors of Computer or Mechanical Engineering. According to the City Tech College Catalog, on page 213, you can be hired for several positions, including computer maintenance, production assembly and robotics technology. The catalog also says that you can get hired by companies such as Verizon, the MTA and NYPD. Even I didn’t know the NYPD needed such employees. The degree is accredited by ABET, which is also responsible for many of the course finals tests many classes take. In terms of some of the classes you take, on page 219, it mentions the classes you take on your first semester. I am personally taking Electric Circuits, Logic and Problem Solving and Technical Graphics, among others. These classes are the basis of what you will need for the time you’re in City Tech, since they teach the basics of EMT. Seeing as one of the things you can get hired for as a technician is production assembly, I enjoy hands on work with hardware. That is what I want to do as a career after college. These are the basics of EMT at City Tech.

This degree is right for me because technology itself defines who I am. In a major such as Electro Mechanical Technology, you need to make sure, as in any other major, that this is what you truly want to do as a career. As seen in my Project 1, where I explain how computers define me, I describe how all the circuitry, components, and the idea of putting pieces of a puzzle together fascinate me. In Electromechanical Technology, according to the college catalog, on page 219, many of the labs involve putting components and cables together. This is, for example, in Electrical Circuit and ElectroMechanical Manufacturing classes.That is not only fun, for me, but it shows how technology is something that I honestly take seriously. On another note, technology is also something that gets me excited. For many people, technology just comes and goes, but the fact of the matter is that technology involves so much more. The future will revolve around technology, and we can’t simply say that comes and goes when it’s something that will improve our future. That is why I’m so intrigued with technology, which is how it defines me. This is key in order to succeed in my major.

Despite my major being an Associate’s, it promises good pay for when I get out of college. One great source we can use to see potential pay and job outlook for our specific major is the US Department of Labor’s Occupational Outlook Handbook. It tells us things such as median salary, job outlook, and also what the certain ob involves. According to the Occupational Outlook Handbook, under the Architecture and Engineering section, we can find the Electro Mechanical Technicians section. In there, we can find that anyone with an Associates in EMT, can earn around $52k. That is a good amount considering it is only with a 2 year degree. It is projected to grow at a rate of 4%, which isn’t that much, but it also says that our skills will help us maintain the demand for the job, which is key for its future. Another job that I can also get is being a drafter. Under the same section in the Handbook, we can see that drafters earn around $50k as well. That involves making schematics either handmade or using software, such as Microsoft Visio. (Which is what we currently use in my Technical Graphics class.) For that job, you only need an Associates as well, which goes to show that getting an Associates is quite handy, and quite a pay day.

STEM jobs, or jobs in the sciences, technology, engineering and math are growing the more time that passes, and it is still developing, even through K-12 education. This shows me that our government wants more high school and college graduates choosing this category of jobs. For example, the article The Keys to Future STEM Careers: Basic Skills, Critical Thinking, and Ethics by Kathleen Ramsey and Barbara Baethe shows that compared to other countries graduates in STEM fields, we can still improve massively. On page 26, on the first paragraph of the introduction, we can see that bachelor graduates in the USA for STEM applications are at 31%, compared to 61% and 51% in Japan and China respectively. These stats are from 2008. Also in that first paragraph, the overall consensus is that interest levels in STEM degrees are high at first, but once you get to the senior year of high school, only 12% of students remain interested in that career. I am actually one of the people that had no interest when I was in 10th grade, until a project in 11th grade made me realise EMT was what I wanted. The project involved researching careers and colleges that offered those careers. This is important because the article also states that one of the keys to STEM success in the US is increasing student involvement, discussion and research in these topics. This information shows that despite the vast amount of STEM careers, there is a lot of improving to do, that there is constant work done. This clearly shows that the future for my field is a promising one, and the fact that I’m going for an EMT degree is a huge step in the right direction.

Completing my Electro Mechanical Associates leaves me at a roadway with several paths to choose from. Whether it be in City Tech, or in another school, I have so many choices of Bachelors I can pursue. For example, Eletro Mechanical Technology involves Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, and I can decide to go for either one for Bachelors, since full credits transfer here in City Tech. I can also decide to follow the path I’m already in, which is going towards Computer Engineering. The last path, which is one that I am thinking about, is just going for the Associates, since the ratio of time to pay is well in favor of just getting my AAS. This will enable me not only get a job sooner, but to also experience real life in general sooner, rather than be stuck still in the college life or 2 extra years. The extra time having a job looks better in conjunction with an AAS looks better after the 4 years. Those are the possible paths my life can take once I fulfill my potential in my major here at City Tech.

Works Cited

Barredo, Rolando. “Computers and Me.” OpenLab. City Tech, 30 September 2015. Web. 8             November 2015. 

Ramsey, Kathleen, and Barbara Baethe. “The Keys To Future STEM Careers: Basic Skills, Critical Thinking, And Ethics.” Delta Kappa Gamma Bulletin 80.1 (2013): 26-33. Academic Search Complete. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.

New York City College of Technology College Catalog 2015-2016 (City Tech). New York: New York City College of Technology, 2015. PDF.

United States. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. “Electro Mechanical Technicians.” Occupational Outlook Handbook. Washington: Bureau of Labor Statistics, 8 January 2014, Web. 8 November 2015.