The end of another term

As I am coming to the end of another term here at Kaplan University, I am feeling a little bit nervous for the next set of classes. I am taking an honors course called: Global Civilization and a regular class: Anatomy and Physiology. Learning and remembering parts of the body I think will be a little hard for me because I also had a littler bit of a rough time in my medical terminology class. Hopefully I will be a certified medical coder one day because these two subjects are important to learn if you want to be one.

One of the things that was a bit challenging this term was writing the essay. It was hard to learn APA citation and it got tiring constantly checking to make sure you had it right. And I'm sure my classmates will agree with me, lol! This term was a bit quieter for me, I didn't meet as many people as my other classes, but maybe that will change the next term. With the week off from school I am hoping to drive up the Mt. Washington now that there isn't so much humidity in the air like in Summer, but there is wind!

The end of another term is near

This week in school, we are in Unit 9, the second to last unit before the beginning of the next term. I felt that this term went really well for me, the classes were great and so were the teachers and my classmates. Right now, I am getting ready to take a test for another class. I want to get it over with now so I can spend the rest of the week working on my essay for another class.

With my paper almost being done, I feel very proud of the work I have done and the journey I took in this class. In the past, I didn't use the resources provided as much (example- writing center), but I made a real effort to use them this term. When we were writing our thesis statements I referenced an article on how to write them, and the ideas just came to me. Also, the professors detailed seminars were very helpful, especially when she talked about the Greek approach. Another thing that helped me was to print a lot of my work, so I could sit back and read the articles while relaxing. I felt that ideas came to me better this way, and I was able to edit things I wouldn't of noticed if I were viewing it on the computer.

In regards to my subject, I want to keep up with the clinical trial that is going on, because it is the first one of human embryonic stem cells. It is a very important study, and doing my research in this class has made me very interested. Some of my classmates' subjects were really interesting also and I pay attention a little more now on the news if I hear something interesting about it.

Busy Morning

This morning was so busy, we had a bunch of errands to do as usual on a Saturday morning. My boyfriend works doubles the rest of the week so this is the only day after pay day that we can get stuff done together. He says he would rather go grocery shopping with me because in his words, "I'm a cook so I know how to shop for groceries." I think he's forgetting my dad was a chef his whole life and taught me how to cook and bake. Haha!

First, we finally had enough money saved up to go to Pep Boys and get 4 new tires. We needed them so bad, our tires were so bald I'm surprised we didn't skid when we came to a stop. We also got new wipers and the state inspection. All in all it drained us of 640$ but its something that needs to get done before winter. I'm hoping too since we got it done so early we will start Christmas shopping soon.

Then after that we went grocery shopping for the first time in a month. We have been living off of food my boyfriend brings home from work for a while. Even though take out is awesome, sometimes I just want to cook myself a meal. Or just throw something in the oven haha. Right now, I have breaded chicken stuffed with cheese and broccoli in the oven.

The rest of today I am going to do a little work for my Fundamentals of Health Information class, and then clean the apartment to hopefully have some people over for drinks tonight. It has been really quiet today since my dogs are at my dads house for the afternoon. The cat doesn't know what to do because usually he is playing with Roxy. Now he is being a stage 5 clinger to me.

Wow already in Unit 7!

I can't believe I am already in Unit 7 and in my third term here at Kaplan University! Pretty soon, I will be filling out my application for my practicum. I am so nervous about that! Medical Terminology wasn't one of my strong subjects, but I have to start studying again when I have free time. Medical coders have to know the terms. You'd think it would be my strong subject since I really love reading and writing, but no!

I really feel proudly of my essay. The Kaplan Writing Center just sent me back their review of my rough draft. Some of the things they mentioned that I should work on are:

1. My reference page and APA formatting issues.
2. I used the word this alot and as a reader someone needs to know what 'this' is.
3. If I use the phrase 'I think...' I should provide facts on why I think this.
4. Minor grammatical issues.
5. Add more discussion to the third subtopic in my thesis statement (how embryonic stem cells can help a patient have a better quality of life).
6. When my essay talks about this or that, identify what this or that is.

Other things we are doing in unit 7 this week are peer reviews. So far though, I have not gotten any responses, but I am hoping to soon!

Something that has been bothering me...

Something that I have been thinking about lately has been really bothering me because I want it so bad. About 2 years ago I had a procedure done to remove pre-cancer from my cervix. Me being the nervous person that I am, did research beforehand and did not like what I was seeing in regards to being able to carry a child successfully after surgery. Now that two years have passed, I feel myself getting older and my wants and needs changing. I so badly want to be a mother, and I want to know now rather than later if I can even carry a child. I cannot imagine what it would be like to not carry a child inside of you at least once.

I need to find out now, because I don't want to be heartbroken in a few years when I actually start trying. Well, I guess you could say we have been going with the attitude "whatever happens, happens" for the past 2 years because I am not on birth control, but still have not been able to conceive. I feel alot better now that I have it written down somewhere and outside of my head. If I were to mention this to my mother she would tell me something like I should be concentrating on finishing school. But, I cannot help it if this bothers me so much.

These past few weeks have been really great. I haven't been doing so good money wise, but it has helped us enjoy the simple things in life, like good times with friends and family. Plus, we have been doting on our pets a little too much! Last night, my in-laws had a Halloween party. My boyfriend wanted to show his family his skills with cooking, so he made us all a pumpkin bisque. It was sooo good and I'm really glad his family loved it because it made him feel proud. I also had a good time hanging out with his younger sister, because we get along really well. She was even old enough to have a drink with me this year! I cannot wait for Thanksgiving and Christmas!

Time is flying by...

My boss where I work part-time had asked me to type out an employee handbook for her and the daycare last week. She had an outline of what she wanted to write but it was my job to correctly format everything and to make it look professional. I had to type about 7,000 words and it took up 24 pages after formatting.

This made me feel really proud of being a student at Kaplan because I had mentioned that I had just finished a course about Microsoft Office, and I am currently in my second composition class. Someone is finally recognizing my hard work and dedication! Well, I know my friends and family are proud also-- but it is a different kind of feeling of accomplishment when a professional in the work force notices! J

For my College Composition II class, I am learning about writing an outline. I have seen several different styles on how to write an outline, from formal, informal, and another new one my professor told us about tonight in seminar was: Classical Greek Method for Building an Argument. I think the Greek method will be most helpful because it shows specifically how to write an argument. I will probably incorporate both though, because I like my ideas to be well organized, and a formal outline helps with that.

I have really been enjoying this class! This time I chose a topic for my final paper that had a lot of information to potentially research, but also something that I was interested in and wanted to learn more about. Regardless of the ethical debate surrounding the issue, there is science behind it that needs to be researched. I could go on for longer about embryonic stem cells, but I am not quite done my research, I want to make sure I have articles with very good information, and I’ve had to go back and change a few since doing some pre-writing. I am excited for tomorrow since I will be working on it most of the day! I will keep you guys updated.

Busy

It has been such a busy past couple days, but I've been getting so much done! I am looking forward to a relaxing day tomorrow with my boyfriend. It is his only day off during the week, so we try to spend as much time as we can together. Well, after he sleeps in lol. I'm also looking forward to this weekend, and getting away for a night up in the mountains to party with my friends!

Yesterday, I spent the entire day writing out a new employee handbook for my work. It took a lot longer then expected because after I typed everything out I had to edit the appearance, alignment, font, etc. to make it look more professional. I was really happy to get this opportunity because it goes to show that people are starting to recognize my talent with computer work, typing, things like that. I am hoping that I will get paid nicely for it because it came out looking really good.

I also had seminar last night for my College Composition 2 class. It was an important seminar for the entire class I believe. We got to learn about different ways of using citations. The best part was when she explained to us how to paraphrase our work, because it is important in our final paper that we are understanding what our research is telling us.

Whoa, what a long night so far! Tonight, I worked on the discussion board for my College Composition II class. It involved writing sample in-text citations and then writing the full citation in APA format. I went on a website that helps you with writing your references in APA style, and that helped me a lot. Properly citing your sources is important because you want to show where you got your information from. Not doing this means that you’re stealing someone else’s words or ideas.

After doing this, I also decided to print all my articles so I could highlight important facts and information. Plus, I am now writing the required weekly blog post! I am a little tired and hungry, but I feel good because nights like this when I am really focused I can do quality work.

Tomorrow I am going to work on reading the articles that I have printed out, and read some more about outlining in the Kaplan Guide to Successful Writing. It will be Saturday, so I’d like to go out, but next weekend my friend is throwing a bonfire party and we are going to be able to use the Inn’s bar that she lives next door to. Yay! LOL. I think I’ll save my money for that. I will probably just do some homework while my boyfriend is at work, and then relax for the rest of the night.

The Research Begins

     I had posted last Friday that my chosen topic for my paper was stem cell research. After doing some e-mailing with the professor and some of my own research, I have decided to stick with this topic. The controversial part of this subject that the professor helped me point out is where the stem cells are harvested from. Do all stem cells need to be harvested from an aborted fetus? I think that is also going to be the start of my working thesis statement.

     This afternoon, I am going to start the research part of my project while working on some sort of rough draft outline. I think it is important to do both around the same time that way you know what you want to research and talk about on your paper. You will find better resources that way-- if you have an idea of what you want to talk about first. I am hoping my research points out different alternatives to using the stem cells of aborted fetuses, and if there isn't, I hope more research is being done to try and find something different. This is a interesting subject, and I'm excited to go to the Kaplan Library. I'll post a little bit later and let you guys know how I did!

Ideas for my Essay

The topic that I have chosen for my paper is going to be: Stem Cell Research. I know it is a controversial topic, but I am wondering how to break it down more. I still want to be able to discuss where we harvest them from, and what research has been done, but I feel that because this is such an ethical issue, it seems too broad of a topic. I was wondering if I could even break it down to just the harvesting of stem cells.  Bloggers, if you could maybe help me with this or give me some ideas it would be a great start for me.  I was originally going with a topic that had something to do with teeth and gingivitis, but because this is not a controversial topic, I chose otherwise.

I really like being an online student. It has helped me become a dedicated learner because it works so well with my life. My schedule isn’t always predictable and it changes from day to day. I have also become a better reader, writer, and listener. One of my favorite things about online learning is the seminars. It gives the class a chance to meet together and discuss what is going on for that unit.  I find students don’t connect as well on the discussion boards, because we are all focused on answering the teacher’s questions and generating a discussion based off that. Something that I want to do more of is to make connections with people that last, because I have met so many interesting people and we are all on this journey together. This blog is an excellent place for this.