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Dr Frans Henskens is the head of the Computer Science department at the University of Newcastle, and has been kind enough to write me a reference on behalf of the department.
In 2004, I undertook some voluntary work assisting students who were learning Java for the first time. When I was a student learning Java, my fellow students and I experienced the many difficulties associated with the unique learning of a programming language, and therefore I undertook this voluntary work to help assist students where they have the most difficulty. I made myself available for about 4 hours every week, and many students made good use of this time to aid their learning. At the conclusion of their exams, some of them came up to me and thanked me for my assistance, as it helped them feel confident in their exams and achieve a good result.
I enjoyed all aspects of this opportunity, and helped me gain a more appreciative view of both the students and the programming language.
Dr Frans Henskens was also the lead organizer for the 2005 Australasian Computer Science Conference, for which I was a volunteer organizer and coordinator during the event.
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Dr Richard Webber is a lecturer at the University of Newcastle. During my time at University I have studied 3 courses which he teaches, and have found his lectures to be very informative and up-to-date.
In the first half of 2003 I offered to be a demonstrator/tutor for his course COMP1050 - Internet Communications. My job was to assist fellow students in their understanding of the course, and to assist wherever they were having difficulty. I actively performed my job for 6 hours every week, often staying back later to assist students further. I enjoyed all aspects of my job, so much so that I have continued this employment in 2004.
During my work period, I spent many hours marking student assignments, and was recognized as the person who marked the most assignments for the course ever (Normally each demonstrator marks at most 80 assignments - I marked over 160). Dr Richard Webber also received praise from many students regarding my high quality of demonstrating and ability to assist students successfully.
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Dr Helen Tolhurst is a member of the University of Newcastle Health Faculty staff. Helen was interested in developing an interactive survey which could be distributed every 3 years to monitor health trends in the community. Helen approached me after receiving my recommendation from Dr Richard Webber (see Dr Richard Webbers reference below).
I developed the survey in Adobe Acrobat, and incorporated many JavaScript features and interactivity, such as text input fields and option buttons. I went further, making the survey aligned and positioned after its conversion from a Microsoft Word document, and placed a validator to check that the user filled in the form correctly. Finally, buttons were added to allow the users to automatically submit the form via email, or to save the form answers to a file for manual emailing.
I had a great time working on this mini-project with Helen, and she was tremendously happy with the result.
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Mrs Marilyn Eade has been my Year Advisor through all 6 years of high school. She was one of my teachers in Year 8, and had chosen me to represent the school in some out-of-school functions. One such function was to discover the effectiveness of a guest speaker who discussed topics like drugs and safety earlier in the year. Another function was a "men-to-boys" program where I helped teachers learn effective communication and teaching skills to use when dealing with young male students. All these functions were voluntary, and not during school time.
Mrs Marilyn Eade also celebrated my achievements, presenting me with several awards on every presentation night from 1997 to 2000. Such achievements include awards for 100% Attendance, Academic Excellence, first in Computing Studies, both Silver and Gold awards for excellent behavior and knowledge, and 2 Distinction awards in nationwide Science and Mathematics competitions, which placed me within the top 5% of all Australian participants for that year.
Mrs Marilyn Eade was appointed as a member of the Newcastle City Council following my completion of Year 12, and has since converted to a full-time councilor.
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Mr Jeff Spence was my teacher in 2001 for the subject of Information Processes And Technology, which is the updated Computer Studies course. He has shown a high level of computer knowledge, and has taught me in many fields such as Macromedia Flash, HTML, databases and multimedia.
Mr Jeff Spence is a teacher on an exchange program from Canada. In Canada, he teaches in high schools and their TAFE equivalent. When he has taught previously in Canada, an average 90% of his students either gain university admittance or employment, with all of his students passing the course.
Mr Jeff Spence has taught me well in the areas of this course, and I have had an enjoyable time being in his class. I have achieved very high marks in this subject, and my class rankings mimic these results. Mr Jeff Spence has high trust in my extensive knowledge and the ability to learn.
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Mr Colin Lawrence is the father of a very good friend I have had over the last 10 years. On many occasions, I have been invited to spend time at their house, and join them for meals. I always apply myself in the best possible manner when in their company.
Mr Colin Lawrence is the principal of the Hunter Community College in Broadmeadow, and has been for at least 25 years.
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This reference is from Lambton High School, and was written by my English teacher, Mrs Angela Colbert. It uses her own personal views, and all available information from the school.
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