The Greater Good of Excel

Expertise on Excel can be vital for many purposes.  The perfect tool for almost any type of statistical or graphical analysis, the program has been a predominant media source used in many science and mathematic courses.  These two fields by no mean limit the scope for which Excel can be used.  It is also a great tool for managing personal accounts and simply getting a better understanding of a certain set of given data.  

For long my experience with Excel has primarily revolved around the basics.  From entering data to creating charts, my general perspective on Excel was using it for simple tasks for a set of lengthy data. However, through this course I have learned that Excel can be utilized for many more complex and meaningful functions.  By learning how to incorporate the different functions, specifically the "IF" function and understanding how it can be applied to a variety of situations both for academic and personal reasons is something I really appreciate.  In addition learning how to select contiguous cells was an extremely helpful method.  I have constantly been left befumbled, questioning how I could combine different sets of data for a single chart, often leading me to, sadly, copy and paste numerous times.  I have already started applying the variety of skills and techniques for Excel in many of my classes and let me say I now spend more time comprehending the actual data and purpose of many labs rather than wasting my time venting out frustrations on how to actually use Excel!

Aspiring to enter the scientific field, one where labs require analysis of statistics and graphs, Excel will continue to be a valuable commodity to me and the material learned in this course can be greatly utilized to enhance dull graphs into professional documents and analyze large sets of data through simple means.