Turning Slides Into Strengths – A Look Back at IS101

IS101-3205 has been one of the most useful courses I’ve taken. Before this class, I had very little experience with PowerPoint, so working on and creating my A3 and A8 slideshow presentations really pushed me out of my comfort zone. At first, I focused mostly on just completing the assignment, but as I learned more about slide design, transitions, and speaker notes, I started to enjoy the creative process. By the end, I felt proud of how much better my final slideshow looked and how confident I became in presenting ideas clearly.

I’m especially thankful for Professor Wu—not only for his clear guidance and detailed feedback, but for how available he makes himself to his students. It’s easy to see he has a real passion for what he does, and that passion has made a big impact on me. I’m taking the most from him with me after this class, both in knowledge and in mindset. I also appreciated reading my classmates' reflections—it reminded me that many of us were going through the same learning curve, and that kept me motivated. I’m walking away from this course with real skills I’ll use in everyday life and future classes, and I’m proud of the progress I’ve made.

I found 6.5.3 – Handout and Notes Masters to be especially helpful. My company does a lot of presentations for different contractors, and being able to print handouts for them to follow along and take notes on is a game changer. I used to struggle with figuring out how to fit multiple slides on one page, so learning how to customize handout layouts was really useful for me and something I’ll definitely continue using at work.