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Three weeks ago, I walked across the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Amphitheater at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth to receive my Master of Arts in Professional Writing. I was elated to finally achieve what I worked so hard for over 20 months, and I was ready to start working as a technical writer or editor.

This past March, I attended STC New England's monthly Scribbling Tipplers conference at Waxy O'Connor's Irish Pub in Lexington, Massachusetts. During the meeting, I mentioned that I taught an experiential learning project called iFixit to technical communication students. When I explained that this project forces students to become experts in electronic devices by deconstructing them and documenting how to repair and replace their components, she was very interested to learn more about it.

These past two days, I attended the Society for Technical Communication New England Chapter's InterChange conference. It was an opportunity for me to catch up with the colleagues I've interacted with since last May, grow my network, and learn new ideas about technical communication that I could take back with me to my career and into the technical communication class to my students.

Next Friday, I'll attend the Society for Technical Communication New England Chapter's InterChange conference for the first time. Every year, technical communicators from all over New England convene at this conference to network, share ideas, and present strategies to develop the profession.

Next week, my students in technical communication at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth will begin working on their group's iFixit projects. iFixit is based in San Luis Osipio, California, part of Dozuki, a technical documentation software company. iFixit's goal is to help users extend the life of their devices and sell components and tools to people who want to repair their broken electronic devices and tools.

This fall, I will teach Technical Communication to undergraduate students at the University of Massachusetts Dartmouth. I’m trying to crack into the field, and I am excited to share my ideas with other aspiring students.

During my studies of technical communication, I have learned many techniques to help deconstruct complex ideas to different audiences. Here are three methods that I, and hopefully others, find useful:

Technical Communication is an amazing profession. Talented writers use the latest productivity software and knowledge of complex subjects to create information for other users to take and use on their own. But there is a rift between the writing part of the profession with the science and technology camp. Each side is skeptical about each other’s competence in addressing users’ needs.