<< Back 5/15/02 SCC graduates first class of students from new Internet-based programs SMN When Josh Meduri completed his high school education two years ago, he wanted to go into a field that would feed his two passions: creativity and the Internet. As it turned out, Southwestern Community College was launching one of the state’s first programs in Internet Technologies at the same time as Meduri was seeking a career to pursue. “I always thought the Internet was really intriguing, and I had always wanted to go into a computer-related field,” recalled Meduri, who was home-schooled in Sylva. “It is a cool, happening thing. And the program allows for a lot of creativity.” So Meduri entered the groundbreaking curriculum. And at Friday night’s commencement ceremony, Meduri became one of the first students in the state to earn an associate in applied science degree in the field. However, Meduri and the five other Internet Technologies graduates were not the only pioneers at Friday night’s ceremony. Two other students graduated from Southwestern’s Business Administration concentration in Electronic-Commerce (E-Commerce) program, which is the first of its kind in the state. While watching their first students walk across the Myers Auditorium stage to accept their degrees, instructors in both programs said getting their respective curricula off the ground was an exciting challenge. “None of our courses had ever been offered before,” said Carolyn Porter, a Swain County resident who oversees the E-Commerce program. “It’s a very dynamic field. We make sure we have all the advanced training and resources we need, and SCC has been very supportive of that.” Instructor Scott Cline said the trickiest part of building the Internet Technologies program was on the front end. “One of the biggest challenges is that we need to focus on what the companies in this area need and set up a program to meet their needs,” said Cline, who lives in Swain County. “All of the people who are on our advisory committee now say that our program is perfect the way it’s set up now, and all of our graduates have good job prospects. Some are staying in the area, and we’ve got some going out of state.” One graduate who is staying in the area is Meduri, who already has a job lined up as the webmaster for the Jackson County Chamber of Commerce. “I’m real excited about this opportunity,” said Meduri. “I really want to stay with that for a while; I like the people at the chamber a lot. After I get a few years of experience, I’d like to someday start my own business” While both Internet Technologies and E-Commerce prepare students to work with the Internet, they have different focuses. The Internet Technologies program trains students to become professional webmasters and places a heavy concentration on programming as well as design. “Before I came here, I basically knew how to surf the Internet and use e-mail - that’s it,” said Katrina Flaws of Murphy, another graduate of the Internet Technologies program who already has her own business set up — webreadydesigns.net — to design or re-design sites. “I really didn’t know anything about programming ... When we first got into ASP (Active Server Pages) programming, I felt like I was the only one who wasn’t understanding. But after awhile, it started to make sense. Now I can do it without a second thought.” Meanwhile, the E-Commerce curriculum focuses more heavily on the business side of the Internet “Our goal has always been to turn out people with well-rounded business skills, and we are doing that,” said Porter. “These students all have a good business background, and the e-commerce aspect ices the cake a little.” Graduates of the Internet Technologies program are Meduri, Flaws, Kim Richardson of Asheville, Benjamin Terrell of Cherokee, Sara Brown of Clyde and Zoltan Nagy, who is originally from Hungary. E-Commerce graduates are Jeremy Bailey of Bryson City and Lisa Bryson of Sylva. For more information about either of these programs, visit www.southwestern.cc.nc.edu on the Internet or call 586.4091 or 800.447.4091, ext. 352.