Wow

These 10 weeks really went by quickly! I am so glad I didn't put off taking this class until later in my journey as now I feel comfortable about the APA format and what is expected. That really caused me considerable stress!

I am also glad that I am now familiar with the writing resources available to Kaplan students. I plan to utilize these tools in the future.

Great getting to know everyone through this blog and I wish everyone the best of luck!!

Dian

The paper is almost done....

and I'm pretty relieved. I have a couple of minor things my brother found and it will be ready to submit. I will be totally relieved once I know the grade; until then I'll be on pins and needles!

I have enjoyed this class and feel I've learned a lot that will help me throughout my college career. I hope it has made me a better writer and will make the next research paper I do easier.

Will I or won't I?

I don't know if I will continue to post to this blog after the term is over. While I see the benefit to this style of writing and it is therapeutic in a way; who the heck is going to read it? It has been fun, but if no one sees it, then I can do the same thing in a journal or Word document. I also recently realized that I've set myself up to take 14 hours next term. If I do blog, it will probably be by pure chance as I get the feeling those 10 weeks will be the hardest yet!

Definitely Off Topic

Wow, what a week it has been! This week I welcomed my newest nephew, Erik Donovan (Beebop) to the family. Not having children myself, I try to be the most awesome auntie in the world. I now have 4 nephews and 1 niece. I get to spend a lot of time with Beebop's 3 y/o brother Tristan and now his little brother. I love those boys!

"Beebop" came into the world Monday, June 21st at 0807 weighing 7lbs 5oz and was 20.5 inches long. He is absolutely perfect! My sis in law is so awesome and she is recovering from the c-section nicely. I've been at their house all week to lend a hand and kinda started to feel like a mother hen. Trying to get her to take it easy is about as fruitless as telling the sun not to rise, lol.
I've been able to meet my school obligations as my bro and sis in law are VERY supportive of my going back to school. Having family support is so wonderful!

Honest Admission of Shortcomings

Okay, now that I have completed the rough draft of my research paper I feel better. Here is my therapeutic admission to my classmates. I am in Comp II because I took Comp I....22 freakin' years ago!!! I didn't think about this until I was in week 4 of struggling with just getting my draft started. All the sudden it dawned on me, I haven't done this type of writing in quite awhile! When I was talking to Kaplan about transfer credits, I probably could have gotten credits for my experience and training as a Navy hospital corpsman. I said no, I need the refresher on my medical knowledge. If I survive this class without a refresher on english composition I will be a happy girl. I am still sticking with my goal of maintaining at least a 93% average for all my classes, but I'm a little worried about achieving that in here. Oh well, life will go on and hopefully I will retain the valuable lessons I am learning. After all, isn't that what education is all about?

The image is "The Scream" by Norwegian artist Edward Munch, first rendered in 1893.

Being a student again

When I read the suggested topics for this week's post it really made me think about how amazing it is that I'm here. Last February, after being unemployed for 6 months and getting little to no response from employers I'd sent my resume to, I tried to think of ways I could improve my chances of getting a job. Then I thought, "I don't want another job; I want a career, a profession, something that gives me a 'home'." So I was thinking and surfing the net when I thought about going back to school and finally getting at least an associates degree. I sent off a couple of inquiry forms and next thing I know my phone is ringing. This wonderful, persistent and positive person was on the other end telling me about Kaplan. Two weeks later I started my first term. I am happy that I am on this journey, but it is scary at times. My self-confidence has never been very good and I have significant periods when I don't believe in myself. I am 47 years old and am pretty lucky to have made it this far. I have had several suicide attempts over the years with the first being when I was about 14 or 15 and my last in 2001. I came within a few minutes of being successful with that one. I had a great career, but I was far away from my family and hadn't made any real friends. And I had, once again, stopped taking my antidepressants because I didn't think I needed them any longer. By the time I went back to a doctor, the slide downward had gained so much momentum that nothing was going to stop it, short of death. At least that is what I thought, but anyone who has this disease knows that you can never really trust what you think when the depression is controlling things.

Anyhow, I rambled. I still have doubts. Going back to school is tough and I often question whether or not I should just give this up and go work a couple of meaningless jobs. Don't get me wrong, I absolutely LOVE school. I feel more alive than I have in a long time. Part of me is impatient, wanting to work in HIM right now. The other part questions my ability to contribute something of significance to the field. And then there is always the upcoming job hunt. But I'll save my thoughts about that for another time.........

Thoughts on Plagiarism

I had to think about this a bit before posting. Plagiarism doesn't make me mad or upset. It simply makes me a little sad and, depending on the situation, even makes me laugh. It makes me think, "So, you are seriously that lazy and unimaginative?" If someone stole my thoughts I'd probably feel the same way. Obviously, there has to be some price to pay for stealing another's words and ideas. If the plagiarist is a "professional", the fact that no one will ever give any weight to future writings may be price enough. If the plagiarist is a student, the failing grade is a pretty fair price to pay. I'm not sure someone who intentionally plagiarizes would fit the definition of a "student". If all you are going to school for is a passing grade and a piece of paper, why not just create your own school and dummy up a diploma? I realize there are people in this world who thrive on cheating. I just don't happen to understand them and try to expend as little of my limited brain power thinking about them. I've heard the breed can be found in abundance in D.C. and many courtrooms across the land....;o)

I Love Online Learning!

When I first started exploring options for going back to school I was a little leery of online universities. I, as I'm sure others do, thought of them as "diploma mills". Even after talking with my extremely enthusiastic and determined admissions advisor I still really didn't know what to expect. Am I thrilled with my experience so far? Oh heck yes! I love the program, professionalism and dedication the staff as well as students exhibit. I feel much more connected to the school and my classmates that I did attending classes in the traditional manner. We interact all the time instead of just once a week for a couple of hours. I love the flexibility, especially when you throw in a laptop. If I feel like I will do better on a test sitting under a tree, then I can do so. I also like the fact that we still have traditional paper textbooks as we all need an electronic break occasionally. I mean I love computers, but one can start to go a little nuts staring at a LCD display for too long.

I also just thought about an aspect I hadn't considered before. I wonder if by not actually seeing a huge, intimidating building whenever we go to "class" or the library if it actually personalizes the experience more? In otherwords, logically I know we are all scattered around the country and Kaplan has a slew of people who work for them. In my mind, it's a very personal and small organization that helps me focus on my education. Interesting..

I think summer is here

Ok, so it's almost 90 degrees in Northern Illinois. Now, don't get me wrong; I like warm weather. Let me repeat, warm. Two days ago it was in the 70's with a nice, gentle breeze. Nighttime was cool; perfect for sleeping with the windows open. Now it's just hot. The breeze is still there, but it really doesn't help much. It also doesn't help that I hate air conditioning. I hate the cost, the dryness and feeling like I'm living in a bubble. After spending all winter with the house closed up I have to have doors and windows open! I get so excited when the time approaches that I can sit on the front porch and read. And then the inevitable happens, the first hot day that reminds me why I like spring and fall so much. Sigh....I guess everything is a trade-off. At least I don't have to wear 5 layers of clothes to walk outside to shovel a foot of snow.

Interesting

After a day of hanging out with my soon to be 3 year old nephew it is very nice to come home and do schoolwork. I am not sure I like the EBSCOhost interface we use to find our reading assignments. Maybe with practice I will come to find it useful. Right now I find it to be a bit un-user friendly. I also must find out how to keep it from italicizing every single word from the search in the HTML version of the articles. I noticed that using the PDF option results in a far more readable document. Unfortunately, that option is not available for all the articles. If I am unsuccessful in finding an answer I will simply copy everything into a Word document, hit Ctrl-A and undo all the italics.

Ok, rant over. See everyone Saturday evening!

Greetings Classmates!

Just a quick note to say hello and I'm really looking forward to this class. I think it is pretty cool that we are setting up blogs as part of our experience. I am pretty comfortable with computers, so if anyone wants help or just to vent feel free to give me a shout!

"See" you tomorrow night!