Any final thoughts or statements to make before we wrap up?

Thanks for a great term class and Professor Thomas. I really wish that I would've had the opportunity to take this class much sooner than my last term before graduation. I'm sure that it really would've helped me with papers that I had to write for other classes. Unfortunately, the medical assisting program really pushes for a student to get their core classes out of the way as soon as possible and then concentrate on gen. ed stuff. This course was actually the last gen. ed. class that I needed to take. I wish everybody the very best in the future. You'll all be graduating like I am in no time. Just stick with it and do the best that you can.

Debbie Torrez

Unit 9 - With Your Final Paper Done or Almost Done, How Do You Feel?

I have to be honest in saying that since my final paper is almost done I feel relieved. I was really struggling with this paper for quite some time. I just could not get my thesis statement to say what I wanted it to say and yet still be a strong thesis statement.
Another reason this has been so stressful for me is because the grade I get in this class will decide whether or not I graduate summa cum laude or magna cum laude. I really want that summa cum laude honor but I have always known that writing research papers is not one of my strong points. I find that I am revising and re-revising my paper almost on a daily basis because I keep thinking that I am finding errors. I have had some of my friends read my paper and they all say that it is an "A" paper. I guess I have to wait and see what Professor Thomas thinks.

Unit 8 Blog: Do You Plan to Continue Your Blog?

After the term is over I do not plan to continue my blog. It has nothing to do with the blogging itself. I just don't like putting myself personally out on the internet. I have kept a diary and/or done journaling since I was five years old. I enjoy journaling because it is private and I am kind of a private person. I feel a lot less restricted by journaling because my personal thoughts and feelings are not posted all the internet. I realize that for this class that we didn't really have to include many of our personal thoughts and feelings. In my opinion, if you aren't able to do that then what is the point. Blogging is fine if you like other people to see and know what is going on in your life. If not, then you should probably stick to either writing in a diary or journaling at home.

Unit 7 Blog: How do I feel about peer reviews and what have my experiences with them been like?

In general, I feel that peer reviews are beneficial. I believe that having one of your peers review your work brings a fresh perspective and a fresh set of eyes to the author's work. Sometimes an author is just too close to their own work that they can't see any errors in the piece. By having one of their peers looks at their work and review it they will be able to see any spelling errors, grammar errors, citing errors, and any other problems with the flow of the paper.
My past experiences with peer reviews have all been very good. I've always received very constructive comments that have helped me to turn a good piece of work in to an excellent piece of work. I've never had a negative experience with peer reviews whether I was receiving a peer review or giving a peer review. I truly feel that peer reviews are a good tool.

Unit 6: What have I been dealing with personally in the past 6 weeks?

Gee, I've been dealing with so much in the last 6 weeks that I'm not even sure where to start. I guess at the beginning is a good place. As I mentioned in last week's blog, I work full time, extern part time, and do school work in between. I have also been dealing with a potentially serious health issue. My white blood cell count keeps fluctuating and has not been in the normal range since March. I was finally sent to the hematologist by my family doctor and they mentioned that dreaded word "leukemia." At first I freaked out but now that I've done some research on the subject I'm not as stressed out as I was previously. I am now scheduled to have a bone marrow sample drawn at the beginning of August. Apparently this will determine what course of action will need to be taken from here on out. Say a prayer for me if you would.

Unit 5: How does school influence my life?

School has really taught me a lot about prioritizing and time management. It has also taught me to plan ahead for large projects and tests instead of waiting until the last minute. The time management and prioritizing have been the most challenging for me this term. I work a 40 hour a week job, spend 3 hours every week night doing my externship hours at a clinic, and also do homework for my externship class and for my comp II class. Needless to say, I don't have any free time at all. I know that this will all be worth it in the end but it has definitely taken a lot of effort on my part. I've also had to make several hard decisions between doing school work or spending time with my friends and family. Again, I know it will be worth it and I only have five weeks left and then I am done. YIPPEE!!!!

If someone used something that I created and didn't give me credit for it, I'm sure I would be upset. I would feel that they actually stole from me. I'm not particularly fond of thieves so I would definitely want to see the person that wronged me brought to justice. I would also want that person to publicly admit what they had done and then give me proper credit for the actual creation. If someone had accidentally taken credit for something that I did, I would also ask them to publicly admit their error. I would not want them to be legally punished if they had simply made a mistake. I feel the same way about accidental plagiarism. If someone does not intentionally plagiarize then I don't feel that they should be treated harshly.

Feelings on being an online student.

I kind of have mixed feelings about being an online student. I appreciate not having to drive to school but I kind of miss the face to face interaction with the professor and my classmates. I do like the flexibility of online classes. It's nice not having to rush to do your assignments at a particular time. It's also beneficial to be able to set aside my own time to do research or discussion questions. I don't have any good ideas for making a closer class community. The discussion questions help with that. A possibility would be to assign a different person that you have to respond to each week. This would actually force everyone to interact with each other at least one time during the term. As I said, this is only an idea. Another possibility would be to have everyone post a picture of themselves on their blog. (I have not done this myself yet but I plan to as soon as I get my digital camera back from my brother.) I'm a big believer in putting a face with a name.

Welcome!!!

Just want to welcome everyone to my blog. Nothing too exciting right now. Just trying to keep up on homework and do my externship hours at the same time. I'm definitely counting down the days.