Interests

Because of the number of interests I have, I will avoid placing a lengthy description listing all here on this site. Day by day the list seems to keep growing anyway, so it would be outdated in a short period anyway. I simply like to learn and in the process I discover new interests. So you could say “Learning” is my interest — the rest falls into place. However, photography has been part of me since I was 17, so here is my photography site
http://photos.cmsturgeon.com/
Photography has been part of who I am for a long time and I have been at various levels.  At 17 I sold my first photo that was published on the cover of a tourist-type magazine in the Florida Keys.  During my college career I started photographing models in West Palm Beach (at 18) and worked as one of the two campus photographers and in the darkroom for developing the year book photos. My interest in photography sort of fell aside as it became a burden to deal with people in weddings and the like.  In 2008, I decided to stop with the point and shoots, since  I had at one time only used SLRs, and go purchase my first DSLR.  Now, I have had three Canon DSLRs and I will stay with Canon.  The opportunities for shoots and for teaching photography keep me going.  Aside from photography, I love teaching others the new things that I learn. Sharing knowledge and helping others to develop is a great joy to me.

I came to Lee University in 1996 (first day was Jan 3rd) as a faculty member from West Palm Beach (Palm Beach Atlantic University). I am the campus instructional technologist and I teach Advanced Web Design, Multimedia Technology, Educational Technology, Flash Design, Basic Web Design, and Portrait Photography courses. I am teaching in the EdS program now and that is exciting. I hope to have more courses, such as Instructional Design, added to my list.

I work in the Center for Teaching Excellence which opened December 2009. My area of responsibility is to provide resources and training for Lee faculty to use technology to teach critical thinking and practice active learning. However, technology is not for all, so I also approach these topics without.
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I lived in Ukraine as a Fulbright Scholar for a half year and it happened to be during the Ukrainian Orange Revolution (2004/2005)
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The experience of living in Ukraine during the Orange Revolution is one that will never be forgotten. Especially not by the foreigners that were living there at the time. Here are some URLs that give an image of what happened:

Last but not least, I love the Russian language and the Ukrainian people. My traveling has been to China, Russia, Ukraine, Amsterdam, Germany and England. So far, Ukraine is my favorite after visiting it every year beginning 2002. As a matter of fact, I love it so much that I moved to Ukraine for a full semester.

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MY STRENGTHS -
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1 – Learner
2 – Achiever
3 – Restorative
4 – Input
5 – Positivity
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