Good Evening All,
                                This is the first post for my new blog that will be tracking my progress through the GEOG413: Applications in Geographic Information Systems course at Bridgewater State University. This course is the second GIS course I will be enrolled in while pursuing my Bachelor of Science degree in Geography here at BSU, this blog will share with the world the assignments and projects I will be working on this semester. I hope you will find these small and large assignments interesting as they will demonstrate the use of GIS in mapping and sharing the countless amounts of data that help to explain our world!

 First short-Assignment: Create a black-and-white map that displays the population of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts spread across each town and city. This map was the beginning task for the semester and helped us all shake off the dust on our ArcMap skills (since I haven't fully used GIS in a year). The map was created by using the 2010 Census Population data that I added from the class data folder. After making sure the numbers make sense, the color ramp in the legend had to line up with the map, the other key map elements were added to make a presentable picture. The Census data was provided from the MassGIS website, which is a wicked-awesome GIS data site, one I will be using much more often. Hope you enjoy this practice in GIS mapping technology, I hope to provide a a vital record of my progress in this class.