[GIVEAWAY] Win 1 seat to a Multi-Day Smartsheet University course

Tim Rice

My favorite course was a crash course on Microsoft Project I went through while an employee at Microsoft. They wanted everyone on the Excel team to have a thorough understanding of MS Project to encourage greater collaboration between the product teams, and ultimately better integrations for customers. I learned more in 2 days than I ever expected.

mandiec

Hi, my name is Mandie Claussen and I work in Research Compliance - it was something I kind of stumbled upon and found a true passion for it. As a strict excel user, Smartsheet has truly changed the game for me.

I have many trainings I've attended but I think one of my favorite was for Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) and was presented by the Office of Research Integrity (ORI). RCR is quite important in the world of research compliance but there is truly not enough resources on it and how to teach/share it. This ORI training was my first business trip (and I'd only been at that job for about 6 months!) and it was so helpful! They not only reviewed RCR subject matter, but they also taught ways to teach it to others in a fun and exciting way (which, naturally, they had us try out in small groups). I learned a lot and I think that's where I really found my passion for research compliance - yes there are rules and regulations, but there's also teaching (I wanted to be a teacher but it didn't happen for me) and creativity.

M_D

The class that has most impressed me was a linguistic class in college. We learned how to pronounce words, then went to a laboratory to actually listen to and repeat the words correctly. By having actual hands on practice I was surprised at how much it helped to improve my speaking ability.

jtperez91

My favorite course that I've taken is the hospital-based highly infectious disease mitigation course offered by FEMA at the Center for Domestic Preparedness. A small group of us took this course right before the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic and we became a core part of the hospital's response in the early days of the pandemic to adequately protect staff from exposure. It's funny how things like that just seem to line up, and I feel that, that course helped me to protect my peers when days were ever evolving.

Eric Grob

Throughout my adult career, I have personally witnessed processes migrate from pen and paper to AI driven technology, with everything in between. To be able to articulate an answer that defines my favorite course and why, made me think back and realize I can directly relate a mantra, of which I utilize daily, which stemmed from a Criminal Justice Reform class in college. This was an unusual class for it's time and was viewed a progressive by outsiders, but the professor was unconventional and unique, to say the least. Part of the curriculum were a few field trips to a maximum security prison, where we conducted interviews with persons serving life sentences. During one of my interviews with an inmate, I noticed a handmade sign that hung over his cell. It read, "Shut up and listen! Everyone knows something you don't" Simple, but it was profound to me. We spoke for two hours on what brought him to his current situation, any regrets, familiar obligations, etc. but when I asked about the sign, his disposition changed immediately. Later on, I learned that this inmate was in-charge of the reintegration program for the prison, and was whole-heartedly committed to doing so for 20+ years. By all means, he was a model inmate, regardless of his failures outside the prison walls. He spent he lifetime behind bars, committed to helping others recreate themselves and have the tools necessary for success in society, if the time came. This sign he created, is a profound statement, which I admittedly adopted for myself. On the surface, the statement appears crude or simple, but beneath the surface, this can be interpreted to applications of education, personal growth, etc. When young, we follow a education model that was created for educating our masses. What most fail to recognize is learning, personal growth, education, is incremental and a lifetime achievement that is not defined to a classroom. No matter what the resource or who is providing the information, don't discard it with our own prejudices. Regardless of who the person is or the situations involved, we can always grow from these experiences.

I realize the response may be a little unconventional but isn't life?

Lynn K.

My favorite course was "Habitable Worlds" through ASU online. The course asked the question, "are we alone in the universe" and taught basic concepts across major areas of science - planetary, geology, biology - covering topics from planet formation to metabolism & evolution of how the Earth supports life, & what makes the Earth a habitable world....fascinating!

laura.doty2

I took a Microsoft Project Class once and what I liked about it was that not only did the instructor share best practices but those taking the class were given a chance to bring up specific use cases and discuss best solution and use of the software.

Jasmine WBB

My favorite course was a course in data analytics. I found it amazing learning about data analysis at a deeper level beyond excel.

Corina Borsuk

One of my favorite courses in recent memory was a two-day course on all things Google (gmail, Google Drive, Calendar, Google Classroom, etc.). It was the perfect combination of hands-on learning, individual and group work, and getting out of the office so I could focus on the learning and not whatever emergency was happening at work. I actually completed the course the day before we all went remote for COVID, which was perfect timing because I was able to quickly set up a Google Drive and dump some files in there for my entire team to use while we worked remotely. As difficult as things were, I can't imagine how much more difficult it would have been if I didn't have those skills.

I have honestly wanted to improve my Smartsheet skills for two years now. It's one of my personal goals, but some urgent work assignment always takes me away from the online video training. I think some dedicated time to take an actual course would be amazing, and less likely to be interrupted, so this would be a great opportunity for me.

RIckG

The best course I ever took was called Assembly Language on the SEL/Gould 32/55-77 Super Mini-Computer. As we progressed through the course it became apparent that this was focused at a much higher level than what I had learned and became proficient at. I was a technician and had to learn machine level language ie. bit, bytes and the programs I wrote were manipulating the computers registers, memory, blocking I/O devices, etc... It was a great experience when I was teaching the teacher and other students about machine level and micro code below machine level. I could write more efficient code than Assembly could produce.

Iris Nightengale

The class that stands out is from my high school days. It was Intro to Web Design. It was the first class that I gave my full undivided attention to. That class was when I decided that computers and websites would be my career. My teacher was amazing and encouraged us to explore what we could do with HTML and CSS. She sparked my love for the digital world as something more than a tool.

Michelle Choate 2

One of my favorite courses I ever took was when I was back in college. I was a Fine Arts major and needed a single science credit to graduate. They had this class called "Physics for Liberal Arts Majors" that looked perfect. The only things our we were required to bring to class was a pencil, paper, and a bouncy ball. We got to our first test and the professor says "I know the pull of gravity is 9.8 meters per second squared; but lets just use 10 to make it easier."

QAIN

South Asian Literature - Opened up a whole new world for me and made me fall in love with reading again.

charleenL

The most impactful class I've taken was in college. the course material was "Teaching to Change lives." I learned so much about the importance of letting the learner learn, not telling, but teaching them to engage. I've used what I've learned there in so many areas of my own life as well as teaching others, and I read the book nearly every year.

JHogan

My favorite course that I took was a CCNP boot camp in Raleigh, NC. The instructor was from a renowned training company, had written books on the subject, was friendly, and provided all the details that filled in the blanks for the knowledge I needed to gain based on the gaps I had. The hands-on aspect was amazing, and the entire company was extremely supportive.

Thanks for the opportunity.