Welcome & Microsoft at Penn State.

Hello Everyone!

Well, it looks like the new school year is well under way and learners everywhere are returning back to school. My name is Eric Scott, recent graduate of the School of the Future class of 2010 and second year student at Penn State University, University Park Campus. I will be taking over the, "School of the Future" blog for a while.  Another interesting thing I will be doing this year is the Microsoft Student Partner program at Penn State. I'll be able to interact more abundantly on campus about what's going on at Microsoft. I will be offering students and faculty deals, tips, news, freebies as well as giving Microsoft some student feedback. I am essentially the “tech rep” or liaison for Microsoft on campus. If you're familiar with the program then great, if not you can always shoot over to the Facebook or Twitter page I’ve created to see the latest: https://www.Facebook.com/MSFTatPSU and https://twitter.com/MicrosoftPSU_UP .
I encourage you to forward the pages to other Penn State students if you know of any, as I provide things like scholarship information, software update information and job opportunities. I will be providing information that comes from many different sides of Microsoft such as: Office, Windows, Xbox, Windows Phone, Skydrive, Imagine cup and many, many more.  This is a really exciting job for me because I gain invaluable experience and “perks”—so to say.

Moving on to related business, some of you are likely wondering what the transition was like. Well, since School of the Future, the transition from high school to college has been pretty smooth. I was pretty itchy to start college during senior year largely because I would be able to focus more heavily on my interest which is computer engineering (also my major).

As I was use to a more “modern environment” at School of the Future I still have those dreary days at Penn State; but never the less Penn State has various ongoing construction projects all around campus. These buildings are LEED certified (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.) usually gold, similar to SOTF and contain smart technologies ideal for a 21st century classroom. A great example is the new IST building (Information Sciences and Technology) in which I have a few classes in this year. These buildings replicate and remind me of the learning environment I was used to at SOTF.  The link below will take you to a video I was in; about a few SOTF students and their transition from high school to college.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F1Q8c3LaEdY

I strongly encourage feedback so please do not hesitate to leave it. You can always contact me at: Eric.SMurphy@studentpartner.com or via any of the social networks provided above. So until next time, this is Eric signing off.