So, it's over. The Spring Semester, that is.

Things turned out ok. All the papers got done and were turned in on time, despite my worries. The end of the semester was just nuts. All three of my courses built up to large projects in the last weeks. The house looks like a tornado came through it. I think I was able to keep things going on the mom side, even adding two birthday parties, t-ball games and horse care classes to our regular activities in the last month, but the house cleaning end of things took a real hit.

I only sort of feel like it's over because I'm already gearing up for my summer course, which starts on the 21st. It's advanced research and it looks tough. Because it's a one-week intensive, I need to have the reading done during the next ten days. Yikes. Here I go again....

Have a good summer,

Kathi

Posted by Kathi at 4:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (1)

Wow. Sorry I haven't written in so long. I lost track of the weeks.

I've been crazy-busy trying to get the last assignments done in my classes. I still feel like this semester has been much more of a challenge than last. I have been running as fast as I can since January, but I'm still just barely keeping up. I felt more on top of things at this point last semester.

I'm down to three final assignments - one in each class. In the next week, I have a 12 page paper due in one class, a 12-15 page paper due in another class, and a 20-30 page group paper due in a web class. You would think the 12-pager would be the easiest, but no. There are a lot of little requirements for this one. I had started researching one topic back during Spring Break in an effort to get ahead, only to discover a few weeks ago that my resources would not meet all the professor's requirements. So I had to scrap what I had and start all over again. That was a bit of a bummer because I was invested a bit personally in my topic. But, things work out; my new topic is related to the first and I've found it's pretty interesting. I'm just more crunched-up on this paper than I had expected.

The group paper is quite interesting. A number of classes at the SSW - particularly in the policy realm it seems - have these group papers. In this case, the class is on the web. Since Spring Break I have been working in a group with 5 other students on the same issue -- a policy to expand the use of medicinal marijuana (the class is Substance Abuse and Social Policy). We had to develop a 40-slide powerpoint presentation on the topic first. The next step was to comment, using the school's Blackboard system, on the presentations of each of the other groups in the class. Now we have to write a group paper that integrates the powerpoints and the comments of our classmates. One of the most interesting parts of this experience is that I have no idea with whom I am dealing in this group; we have never met each other face-to-face. This has been an experience in trust, as much as in working together with others.

It's hard to believe the year is almost over. I'll be taking one summer class -- advanced research. I don't know if I will be asked to blog again next year. If not, I wish you all the best in your future endeavors.

Best of Luck,

Kathi

Posted by Kathi at 2:18 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)