About the Webmaster

My name is Natalie Stepanenko. I am 16 years old and I have two cats, Lulu and Bella. I play volleyball, basketball, and softball, and I will play softball at Hillsdale College next year. In the future, I plan to study biochemisty and go into either genetics, neuroscience, or another technology field.
This is my second year competing in the MCWT Web Design Contest for Girls, and I am now competing in the advanced category. Both this year and last year, I have tried to relate my theme to my future career path.
With last year's food theme, I focused on the healthiest foods for athletes, and this year I tied the pet theme back to my desire to go into health care. Each year, I expanded my knowledge and learned lots more on topics I would not have previously looked into.


Technology Classes


...has only just begun.
My Journey in Technology
TAUGHT BY CLASS DESCRIPTION WORK SAMPLES
Candela Career/
Technology Foundations		 This class is designed to prepare you for the work force. I learned how to make resumes with Microsoft Word, explore different career options, and prepare for interviews and other professional settings.
Web Design In this class, I learned about the process of creating a website. I used Adobe Photoshop to alter pictures and create graphics for my website. I also used Notepad++ to write the code for my website.
Advanced Web Design This is the class that I am currently in. I expanded my knowledge of designing websites, again using Adobe Photoshop for making graphics and editing pictures, as well as Notepad++ for writing my code. This class has been largely individual work and requires good problem solving skills and hard work.



The Process



Conclusion

Making this website has been one of the most challenging experiences I have had in my high school career. I signed up for this class knowing that I would have to work extremely hard to succeed, and it has pushed me harder than I could have imagined.

Through the process of making this website, I have learned more about both the web design process and the health benefits of having a pet. Before the contest, I was aware of some benefits of owning a pet, but I really got to explore the topic and grow my knowledge on the subject.

I also became more comfortable with my coding skills, especially because of my opportunity to visit a local professional web design company, Seek Momentum. They helped with my code and design, and I got to see what it would be like to design websites for a living.

Even though making this website was a huge workload to take on, I enjoyed the process and expanding my knowledge of web design. I have challenged myself and learned how to deal with problems on my own, and I am a better student because of it.

Now, since we could all use a little stress relief, here's a video of my cat Lulu to lower those cortisol levels!



Citations