Final Thoughts

Well, the paper has been submitted, reviewed and returned and while most people would be elated with the score I received, I cannot help but feel a bit disappointed. I revised this paer so many times that I lost count, and am just frustrated that I am still struggling with such a basic concept as comma use. There in lies my weakness I suppose and as such will be my focus both in my other classes and outside the classroom. I tend to be a perfectionist and am very hard on myself and a loss of 15 points for punctuation mistakes is huge in my book (because I feel this is something I should have mastered by now). Looks like I will spend my "break" researching comma use and the rules governing such. Merry Christmas everyone and best of luck as you each continue ahead in the rest of your classes.

and that's a wrap!

Having nearly finished my paper I am both relieved to have it done as that marks the near closing of yet one more term, as well as nervous in wondering how well I did. I am a perfectionist by nature and am also very impatient. The wait for grades to come out nearly kills me. While I have been on the president's list every term so far since starting here at Kaplan, with every assignment, quiz, etc. comes the same fear of "did I do well enough". I can only hope the answer to that will be a resounding yes and finish out the term knowing I worked hard and did the best I could. All in all I feel I have learned a lot qnd am glad to beable to now focus on the holidays and an upcomig move. happy holidays to you all!

Blogging past the classroom

You know, while I do enjoy writing in general as a way to express myself and my ideas, I do not think I will continue this blog past this class. The reason for this primarily has to do with the busy schedule I keep. With more classes yet to come, an upcoming move scheduled, a new job to be starting, and two small children to care for, my plate has all it can handle. Couple that with the fact that my youngest son is still receiving dialysis 3 x/week along with 9 hours of therapy/week and you can begin to see what I mean. I simply do not have the extra time to continue with the blog and to be honest am only doing it as a requirement for this class...

The peer review process

I think oftentimes we as human beings do not like the review process because it entails criticism just by its very nature. However, it has been my personal experience that the feed back I receive from others has often allowed me to see things from a perspective I may not have considered. Perhaps it is like talking to a neutral party about a crisis you may be facing in your life; you may not like or even agree with what is being said but it allows you to see things differently. This is the same with writing. When a person writes they are often seeing things from only one perspective, theirs, and thus cannot see where errors may have occured or possible new information may be added (or deleted). for this reason I am a fan of peer review because by looking at things in a different light the point you yourself are trying to make may be able to be done more effectively.

impact on ES research

I do not know if the way I feel about the importance of stem cell research will ever necessarily have any real impact on it one way or another. However, I do believe that just as is the case in voicing your opinion in an election, getting your opinion and points heard can alter the way others think of the idea. There are probably a great many people out there who really do not even know what stem cells are or where they come from, but simply know only that which they have heard through friends or the media. Perhaps they have not heard of it at all. I will never argue that ES research is not without risks; it definately has many hurdles to jump as of yet. It is for this very reason I think it should be funded on a national level. I cannot think of a single technology within the medical arena that did not require enormous amounts of research and/or clinical trials. With every new discovery comes all the "kinks" that need to be ironed out. Keeping this in mind however, I feel if illnesses that devestate families across the globe can be cured, or even treated more effectively, than every possible option needs to be explored. I guess then the impact my ideas could potentially have would be in educating people to this idea.

The number one thing that seems to cause me conflict between school and home life would have to be, like most people I imagine, a lack of time. I tend to be a perfecionist so I will spend a ridiculous amount of time on my assignments which makes it hard for me to have the time I both want and need with my family. I keep telling myself that I do not have to receive a perfect score on every assignment , and that my kids will only be little once, but for some reason I just cannot accept less than my best. I know in the academic setting my dedication will be viewed as a good thing, but like I said, the day will come all too soon when my babies are no longer babies and stop WANTING to be around me. Sometimes when it gets really crazy around here, I find myself asking "Lord why cannot I just accept mediocracy?" Perhaps one day I will have the aswer to that, but for now I'll just keep marching forward.

The Importance of giving credit

It is so easy to remember something someone has said and repeat it without stating where the information came from, just as I'm sure we've all said "you know the saying goes..." without saying whose saying it is, but the people who have stated these things first need to be recognized. Imagine you finish writing this paper for this term and it becomes published. Now how would you feel if somebody else took your ideas for their own and they in turn were given the recognition for that which you have done? Let's go a step further, suppose your work resulted in an important discovery through somebody else presenting it as their own. How would you feel to know that you were the one that first thought of the idea, but were never given any credit for it? This is why it is important to cite the sources for the information we use in our wrting. Even if it neve ramounts to any great discovery, taking something that does not belong to you is stealing and I think we can all agree stealing is wrong. This holds true for the  words we use, as well.

Online school-love it:)

For me, taking classes in a traditional, on-ground school was not an option. I cannot conform to a set schedule due to the unique needs my son's illness requires, but rather I need one that can flucuate with and accomodate the twists and turns my son's illness presents. I love the fact that I can log into class when he is napping or take my laptop with me to dialysis and use the time there to complete schoolwork. I go to his dialysis 3 x/ wk for 3 hours each and have therapists ( speech, OT, and PT) that come out 3 x/week for an hour each on the non-dialysis days. He also sees many other specialists such as the cardiologist, hematologist, and GI. Couple these responsibilities with the raising of my 10 year old son, running a house, and trying to find time to be a decent girlfriend and "scheduled" classes just don't fit the bill. With the online platform I can take my laptop with me anywhere I go and be "in school" whenever I want...even if for only 15 minute segments at a time. I simply love being an online student!

Update

First, let me thank those of you who had such kind words and warm thoughts for me during this whole MRSA thing; it deinately made it a little less ominous knowing there are people out there who care. Second, I'm almost scared to say this for fear of something going wrong, but it does appear to be getting better. There is still a lot of hardness (infection, I guess) under the wound, but per Dr.s instructions, I have been soaking it and squeezing it several times per day and while excrutitingly painful to endure (my bf does the squeezing cause I'm a wimp), it appears to be working. The antibiotics have been extended and I am in the process of trying to bleach every hard surface inmy house for fear one of my children will contract this. I am hoping for the best. Anyways, thanks again for your concerns.

When will it end...

     Today was another disappointing day in terms of the MRSA. I went to have a wound check and have the packing from Monday remove only to be told it is not healing and there is still agreat deal of infection. They had to re-open (yes, cut) it and go deeper in an attempt to get this under control. I will have to go back yet again Saturday when I will be admitted if it has not improved.

     Having this infection has made keeping up with my schoolwork a huge challenge. It is hard to concentrate and focus on the task at hand when you are in so much pain. However, such is life and I am plugging away at it. I just hope I can keep my head above water until this is over for as my good friend Kim is always telling me, "this too shall pass...".

Getting started

Well, it looks like "life" is going to hit me over the head and make for a rough start to the term. Yesterday I found out what I thought was a spider bite on my side is actually MRSA so, lucky me, I had to get it cut open and drained. Sounds pretty simple, doesn't it? That's what I thought too until the lidocane wore off and I had to get up and take care of a two-year old...VERY painful is all I can say. Anyways, how is everyone doing? Has everyone decided on a topic for the paper yet? I'm thinking about stem cell rsearch, but am not yet sure;it may be too controversial. Well, hope I this finds you all well and I will betalking to you again soon.