The past few weeks have been the usual craziness. I am writing this from the comfort of my newly-renovated log home in Eighty-Four, Pa. My parents have been working non-stop on it, and let me tell you, it looks amazing! It is a great thing to have a stress free week and to do some things for my pleasure. I will be doing some work on this website and hopefully have a portfolio of achievements, projects, etc. up and running within the next few days.

Big News

Recently, I have been perusing a summer internship with Agilent Technologies, the world’s premiere measurement company. Yesterday morning I finished my final interview with the managers in the ISRM team. I am just awaiting my papers in the mail : ) The job is based out of Colorado Springs, CO. How lucky is that? Beautiful mountains, great hiking and close to Denver. I will be working closely with the IT Security and Compliance Management Team on various projects related to security. I plan on really making a difference with this position and bringing some fresh, new input to the team. The upcoming projects mentioned in the interview have got me thinking ahead already. A new employee security awareness program and some network penetration testing. What else could you ask for? I will keep you all updated on the status of the internship and look forward to some amazing photographs from Colorado. My roommate, Anthony (Z) has got an offer to work for Agilent as well. He will be based out of Santa Clara, Ca. Looks like IST is taking over the West Coast… We plan on taking a road trip with some friends across the country to see the sights or America. Stay Tuned!

Back to the boring stuff…

Well, I suppose boring is a harsh word…but what can follow a summer internship in Colorado? Anyways, the recently resurrected Penn State Longboard Club has been risen from the grave by the founders of the new Bonsai Club, Raul and Luke. They graciously asked me to be involved with the club. Being an avid longboarder, I accepted. I am the new media director for the club. In charge of web design, tee shirt design, stickers, cards and anything media oriented. I am totally excited about this. I really hope it gets going.

Other than that The IST Future Forum is coming along, with the hard work of Anthony Zmoda. I designed some pretty fresh logos for this year. They still need some work but you can take a look at what I have so far.

Ok, I missed Pittsburgh and my dearest friend Lindsey. Time to go to the city, I need to restock on tea. Thanks for stopping by!

Ok, It has been ages since I have updated this thing I call my blog. It is not that I do not want all of you to be up-to-date with every detail of my fabulous life, I have been a busy guy. Firstly, let’s talk about school. This year is much different than the last two (obviously). My experience this past summer has had a vast effect on the way I look at life. It is not easy to describe in words, I just feel a little more cultured than before. I think some people take some of my new hobbies and views on various subjects as my being distant, I am trying to fix that. Anyways, I got a long board about two weeks ago. It might be my new best friend, I love the freedom of carving down a freshly paved road at 1 A.M. I plan on taking a few pictures of my and my companions shredding some hills. As far as my classes go, I am about 50/50 on my enjoyment scale. I was really looking forward to my Cyber Terrorism class (SRA 211) and I suppose I just got my hopes up. I hate to complain so I will leave it at that. My Statistics class is…well it’s Statistics. My Geography class is great. Our professor is extremely worldly and cultured and shares some very similar views on issues that I feel strongly about (Wal-Mart, Global Warming, etc.). My introduction to network security is fairly interesting. I wish it was a little bit more challenging, but it IS an intro class.

Last weekend I attended Chuck’s Harvest Festival. It is a weekend to celebrate nature, agriculture, music and friends. Along with some new friends, I hiked a mountain, cooked breakfast on a fire and hiked back. I have been waiting to go and explore the woods for a while now. Want to see some pictures?

Well everyone, that’s all. Again, I apologize for the delay in writings. I have two websites to design and now that I have a job at the Residential Computing Services on campus it is hard to find time. Don’t give up on me, keep checking, I will post as soon as I get a few minutes. Thanks everyone! I hope everything is great!

I know it has been a while since I have written a post but what can I say… things have been somewhat hectic. School is here. The sights, the sounds, the unity of Penn State. Thousands of adoring football fans screaming for our beloved Nittany Lions. This place is great (Granted I did not get football tickets). My friends are the best, literally. The infamous Mike B. came to hang out for the weekend. He will be leaving shortly to serve our country in the Navy. My first week of classes went smoothly. I basically live in the IST building during the week, but I enjoy being involved. IST gave me a lot the past few months so it is the least I can do. Here is a list of the coolness that is my schedule for this semester:

SRA 221 (OVERVIEW OF INFORMATION SECURITY)- Provides an understanding of the overview of information security including security architecture, access control, and Internet secure applications. In other words, I get acquainted with the fine art of computer hacking : ) I think I am going to like this course.

SRA 211 (THREAT OF TERRORISM AND CRIME) -Provides overview of nature, scope, and seriousness of threats to security as a result of terrorism and crime. I am still having some mixed thoughts about this class. I will keep you updated on how it is going.

Geography 040 (WORLD REGIONAL GEOGRAPHY)-Introduction to the world as an interdependent community built from unique and independent regions and nations. This class seems quite interesting. I do want to travel the world, I should know about our impact on other nations before I venture out.

Italian 003 (INTERMEDIATE ITALIAN)-Advanced grammar; oral and written composition; reading of modern authors; Italian life and culture. Great class, even better professor. This is a night class, I had Italian 002 last semester with Prof. Gatto, it was great.

Stat 200 (ELEMENTARY STATISTICS)-Descriptive statistics, frequency distributions, probability, binomial and normal distributions, statistical inference, linear regression, and correlation. Eh, I am not too thrilled about this one, but it’s required so there is not much I can do.

Well, there it is, that’s my fall 2007 class list. I am excited for it. I am also doing some cool things within the College of IST. I am helping get the online magazine of IST (MIST) off the ground after a little slump last year. I am currently in the process of designing a new logo to represent the Security and Risk Analysis Club. I will post some drafts as they come. I will be working with my colleague and life long friend Anthony aka “Z” with the Future Forum. I am especially excited about this. I hope to see my boss from the summer (Mr. Leo Cato) come to the states and give a speech to the College of IST. This would really open some students eyes to the development of IT in other countries. Mr. Cato is the head of IT for the Ministry of Education in Grenada. He travels the world working with others to enhance IT and relations on the island. I think it will be a glorious day for a bike ride, so I will keep you all updated on my life, again I appreciate the time taken out of your busy days to get a glimpse of me, Jimmy Mesta. Before I leave I will leave you all with a few pictures from school and my trip to the zoo with the Grenada Crew. Oh, before I forget, I need to give a shout out to my good buddy Tim Knapton, check his website out at www.TimKnapton.com. This man is the reason I even know anything about CSS and web design. He is flying out for Germany today to study, I wish him safe travels and I am sure he will have a great time. Ok, I’m done rambling. Cheers all!

My new hobby. Check out www.adagio.com! Great place to get some tea.

Mr. Zmoda and “Pags” getting acquainted with the new room.

Mr. Knapton aka old man Rivers himself.

Really long escalator at the Pittsburgh Zoo.

Well it has been a full week today of being back in the good ol’ USA. Not much has changed here…everything is still fast paced and full of stress. I have brought back a whole new perspective on things. I have learned from Grenada to not take things so seriously and to enjoy what I have. I really do miss Grenada. I miss the people, the sights, the smells and the laughter. This was a summer to remember. Grenada will always have a place in my heart. The first thing I did when I got back was drive. Let me tell you, it was glorious. I gave my car a bath and took it out. I stopped down at the local piercing shop to say hi to a few friends. If you are in the area I highly recommend checking Kutters Edge out. Kathy does great work. I am really looking forward to school, I am moving back Monday to hopefully find a job and get settled in. I took a few pictures of my car…I know some friends in Grenada would like to check it out…

Oh yea before I forget…I have a few pictures of our last days in Grenada, enjoy!

Saturday, August 11th we flew into Pittsburgh.  That might have been the longest day of my life.  With about an hour of sleep and a full day of flying you can guess I was not a happy camper.  By the time I arrived in PA I was too excited to care.  The United States! It was an interesting transition the past day.  The first thing I had to get out of my way was my craving to drive.  I spent the day Sunday lazily driving around calling friends that I have not been able to even speak with the whole summer.  I helped my buddy set up a wireless network (sort of).  Reminder: never purchase/use/condone Microsoft Vista.  I am sorry, I gave it a try…I think it is absurd.  Anyways… I am super excited to go back to school. Grenada is like all I am talking about lately.  I guess it is just setting in the task I accomplished in one summer. I really really hope to go back this winter.  I applied to be an Apple campus representative this morning.  I will keep you updated.  My car pretty much broke down yesterday so the pops and I are going to give it a look see .  If you want to listen to good music give The Number 12 looks like you a chance.  Particularly the cd Mongrel. Alright everyone, have a splendid week!

Well yesterday we moved into the Grenada Grand Beach Resort.  We were informed that we had one day to pack up and leave the University Club.  I guess that there were professors moving into the villas.  I already miss the University Club.  It was kind of like home in a way.  It is nice here…we are on the beach and there is a ridiculous Fantasy Pool…Or Mystery Pool, as I like to call it.  I feel like a tourist and I don’t like it to tell you the truth.  I feel like a local as opposed to someone who comes to visit.  Tomorrow we will be going to Gouyave(hopefully) to eat with Rene and the crew.  His mom wants to make us dinner.  Afterwards we are going to go to Fish Friday.  This is the last weekend in Grenada.  It is kind of sad it is all ending.  I guess its back to the fast-paced life of the US.  Madhavi sent me and Email to meet with the dean(s) and talk about the trip. That should be pretty cool.  I started designing a website for my friends band (The Story of Five White Antlers), I am super psyced about it.  I miss my family…this resort really makes me want them to be here and enjoy it.  Maybe we can come back together in the future.  I really need to fix this blog to match the CSS of the rest of my site. I will get around to it at some point.  For now the back button will be your friend.  Time for a nap…had a long day of pool sitting.  bye!

Hey everyone, I know it seems like my computer has been dormant for a week or so but I have been very busy coding my website(www.jimmymesta.com). I finally got a host and I am up and running. It is not completely done as of yet but I am working on it. The internet connection here is somewhat “sketchy”. As for Grenada, it is still great. On Friday Josh, our driver took us to his home town for the evening to eat some authentic oil down (Grenada’s national dish). It was some of the best food I have had here. There was kind of a block party. Everyone was very accepting of us after a while. I think some were a little weirded out at first with 5 Americans just rolling up to their block. This week we are supposed to be doing some wireless networking around the island. We will see. I promise that I will be writing more frequently now that I have my website up and running. Well I am going to get ready for the Sunday night buffet. Cheers!