As a non-traditional student who has 25 years experience in the working world, I value Living Lab because it teaches soft skills in addition to furthering our understanding of technology. The projects we work on are computer based, but the most important lessons are work ethic, initiative, self-sufficiency, dealing with work-related frustrations, teamwork, and time management.
Vicky Smith
Living Lab was a last-minute choice for me, and now I feel it should be the first choice anyone makes. The hands-on experience I have gained has helped me tremendously. I’ve definitely stepped out of my comfort zone numerous times and loved every moment of it. The instructors are extremely helpful, and my fellow classmates have also been teachers to me as well.
Eugene Gephart
Throughout this class, I have learned a great deal of information. It gave me an idea of how how the IT world runs and prepared us for it.
Abdulrahman Jassem M. Alzaman
Living Lab gave me a chance to experience working with real-world projects, not just books and notes like other classes. In addition, I got to learn new techniques (terminate network cables, set up switches and hubs), new software (ManageEngine EventLog Analyzer), and experience a corporate environment. Finally, Living Lab gave me a chance to work on my problem-solving skills as well as self-sufficiency, because I had to do a lot of research on my own to solve any issue that came up.
Anh Pham
The Living Lab has taught me that not all projects will go as planned. You will run into problems and situations that frustrate you. I have, however, learned a great deal about logs and log management. I gained confidence in my problem-solving skills and overcoming obstacles when it comes to IT projects .
Samuel J. Jacobs
I didn’t know what to expect when I signed up for the Living Lab. It has been a long and difficult journey this semester, but I got hands-on experience with Linux. I hoped to cover more networking material, but setting up an intrusion detection system and troubleshooting commands did make this seemingly impossible task for a student with no prior experience more approachable. I also got to make network cables for the first time, which was an added bonus.
Nelson Soriano
The Living Lab helped me gain experience, knowledge, motivation, and communication skills in the networking systems field. I learned about configuring switches, from the beginning to the end, to run a secured and productive networking environment.
Khaled Salh Alwasel
The Living Lab has given me the chance to work on a project that I have yet to encounter in my six years of IT experience. It’s broadened my horizons and given me a great chance to work with other students in my field. I have also been able to pick up information from other fields of IT that I wouldn’t have been able to learn in my current job.
Jerry Henderson
My time in Living Lab was really beneficial because the software we learned about is used in the real world. I learned additional skills, such as being disciplined on arrival time, trying different methods to solve problems, and asking help from peers. I really enjoyed working with Snort, and using it to solve problems will help me with future projects. I look forward to what the future holds after adding this class to my resume!
Mohammed S. Iftikhar
The Living Lab has been very educational for me this semester. I gained experience in collaborating with a client in order to install a Polycom Videoconferencing system, to provide a new way of communication for the client.
Paul D. Bailey
