I think school is influencing my life in a positive way. I have been a stay at home mom for the past year, so I have a lot of free time (sometimes, not always). (I did go back to work for about 3 months when my daughter was 8 months old). Taking classes at Kaplan has given me something constructive to do during that time. I think it is also influencing my son. He sees me on the computer doing my classwork and learning new things and that makes him want to learn new things. I should be done with my classes and have my degree by the time my daughter is ready to start preschool in 2011. When she starts school, I can go back to work. Don't get me wrong, I love being home with my children, but I like to be out in the world, with adults, too. lol!

I don't think the Internet tries to blur the line in what is "legally owned". I believe that most people are honest. They don't intentionally try to take credit for other people's work. Everyone just likes to share. They want to share their knowledge and share their interests. The people who edit Wikipedia are sharing their knowledge on a subject. It always asks for the sources to be sited. Every time I read something on there, there is always at least 1/2 page of references. YouTube is the same way. It is just people sharing their talents, skills, and interests with the world. They even play some of the "viral" videos on Fox Chicago news in the morning. The Internet is a big part of our lives. You have to remember to use common sense. If it seems to good to be true, it probably is.

Yay! Spring break is over and my son is back to school! It makes it so much easier to study during the day with only 1 child home. I love taking online classes! I am in my comfort zone when I am at home. If I had to physically go to a campus, that would just be so much extra time out of my day. Now I just use that extra time to study or do something around the house. I also have anxiety issues around new people and things, so this works out perfectly for me. I have always been self conscious about my writing too. Sometimes I think I would rather take a test (open-book) of course then have think of something to write. Its not that I am bad at it, I don't think I have self confidence in what I write. Basically, I'm afraid of what people will think of what I wrote. But these are definitely areas I have improved on since I started at Kaplan. If I were on a physical campus in front of lots of other people I don't think that would be happening. I've gotten some emails from Kaplan that invite everyone to the webinars. I think that is a great idea. If its about something that interests you, you can be around with people that are interested in it to. I am so happy that I go to Kaplan University. Like I said before, I love online learning!

My First Post

Wow! My first blog post, I am so excited! I have never written anything like this before. I guess I should tell you a little about myself and why I am at Kaplan. I have 2 kids, 6 and 2. After my daughter was born my husband and I decided that it would be best if I stayed home to take care of her and my son until she's able to go to preschool. I decided to go back to school so when it is time for my daughter to go to school, I'll be able to get a decent job. I chose Kaplan because I can still be at home to take care of my family and don't have to worry about the extra gas and having someone else watch my daughter. I chose medical transcription because I like the medical field. I worked at a hospital for a about a year before my daughter was born and really liked it. Eventually I would like to get another degree in Health Information Technology so that I can learn the whole office end of a doctor's office.