The end... of my college composition course!

       Week ten is here and this is the end of my college composition course! Next week I will begin a new set of classes, but I am thinking I might continue to maintain my blog. At the beginning of this course I was not interested in writing a blog on the internet for the world to see, but now I am more confident in my writing and myself because of it.
      Throughout the last ten weeks I have written posts to my own blog as well as made comments to a few others'. To my surprise, I have learned a lot about creative writing from this experience not only from writing my own work, but also from reading what others wrote. The various methods, sentence formats, and topics that I have discovered have been fascinating and fun! I am considering using this 'news' method to maintain contact with my friends and family at home as my husband and I continue our adventures in Germany.
     To my classmates: thank you for making blogging (and the course) fun; I've enjoyed working with you! For those of you who have been following my blog; thanks, its been fun!
That's it for now, cheers!

Final paper... CHECK!

As you all probably know by now, this blog was started as an assignment for my college composition course. Well now, the ninth week of class has arrived and I am a much more capable writer. Throughout the term, I wrote this blog, participated in online discussions, and practiced my writing in a variety of ways. I am happy to admit that this course was not one of those where you constantly find yourself wondering: “am I ever going to use this in real life?!” I will most definitely utilize my new and improved skills as I continue my education and enter the work force. 

As the title mentioned, my final paper for this course is FINALly done and throughout the entire process I used pre-writing, drafting, review, re-writing, revision/editing techniques that will continue to improve the quality of my work. As I continued to devote hours to my paper I became more involved in my own writing because if I am going to spend this much time completing an assignment, I might as well be interested in it, write (just joking RIGHT?!). 

 Throughout my life my interest in writing has only involved the topics that I chose for myself; not those required by academic assignments. After taking this online course my new interest in writing includes every (well almost every…) topic that I could write about personal or academic. 

That’s it for now… cheers!

From Vermont to Germany

If you have been following my blog you know that my husband is a soldier in the United States Army and we're stationed in Baumholder, Germany. My husband and I spent the past two weeks at home (in Vermont) with our family and friends for Christmas. Although we live in Germany at the moment and we have an apartment here, we still consider Vermont "home."

My husband or myself had not been home for months; therefore, it was so good to be back there with everyone - having fun, laughing, reminiscing, and just spending quality time as a family. Until you have been separated from everything that is familiar to you, friends, and everyone you love, you do not understand how much these things truly mean to you. You might cherish these people and familiarities, but you especially recognize how special these things are after you have been half a world away.

Within a few months my husband will be deployed to Afghanistan and I will be here in Germany while the rest of our family and friends are at home in Vermont and Massachusetts this will make the world of separation even more challenging.

As you read this, please consider those people and objects that are special to you and recognize what your life might be like without them.

Smile, live life to the fullest and love with all your heart; be without regrets!

                That’s it for now, cheers!  

Did I write, right?!

                Tish is my Bolg, you’re redaing my Bolg. Yuo are probly wundering what this crzay jumble fo words is all aoubt. Alright, so if you have been following my blog you know that my published work usually does not contain (many, if any) mistakes! You might be thinking, what the heck was that first sentence about, am I right? Well, as you might or might not know I started this blog as an assignment for my composition course. Throughout the term, I have been learning about many writing techniques, prewriting methods, proper citation for references, paper formatting, and types of editing.

As you read my first sentence you probably made changes as you edited my mistakes in your head, believe it or not this is a form of peer review (easy right?); this step of the writing process usually occurs after the first-draft and self-editing stages are complete. Peer review is when another student or colleague reviews your work and provides their feedback with the intention to help you improve the quality of your work, if possible using constructive (respectful) criticism.

Next time you are working on an important project, composition, or other type of work consider asking someone else to check it out for you. Many people cannot edit their own work because as we review we see what we meant to say/portray and not what is actually said/done.

That’s it for now, Cheers!

Get to it, you can do it!

As you all probably know, I am currently a student at Kaplan University. For the past few weeks I have been formulating a research paper about the benefits of physical activity for people with depression. As a Health Science major I am interested in this topic because it is an incredible, inexpensive, effective method of treatment! Did you know that physical activity is an antidepressant that is as effective as pharmaceuticals and other methods of psychotherapy (Bauldauf, 2009)?! Physical activity is beneficial for everyone not only people with psychological disorders!

 The reason why I picked this concept for my topic is because I know many people who suffer from depression; therefore, this is more than a writing assignment, it is a personal interest. As a student I know I am interested in medicine, but until now I was somewhat uncertain what exactly my chosen profession might be. My research about this topic has sparked my interest in depression and the various methods of psychotherapy. I am an active individual and I know that I could benefit the lives of many people as a psychotherapist who promotes the use of physical activity in collaboration with therapy sessions as a primary treatment method. I am not saying that the other treatments such as pharmaceuticals and electrotherapy are ineffective and should not be used; I am simply suggesting the use of this new alternative method!

My question to you is: If physical activity is so effective why are people still consuming large quantities of prescriptions and other expensive treatments while there is an effective, inexpensive, natural, potentially fun alternative!? What do you think?

That’s it for now, Cheers!

References

Baukdauf, S. (2009) If the gloom won't lift. U.S. News & World Report, 146(11), 70-75. Retrieved 

from Academic Search Premier Database. 

The countdown is on...

Today is December 8^th… this means it is only 10 days until my husband and I board the plane home from Germany to visit our family and friends for Christmas! At the moment I can hardly believe that we will be back in Vermont in a little more than a week; however I am hoping that I have enough time to complete all of my college assignments ahead of time so I can enjoy every minute of our brief time at home! I know I will not be able to complete (and submit) all of my assignments right now, but I am determined to do as much as I can! Thankfully, I am motivated!

                My husband Jason has been in Germany since 1 June 2010 and I got here the 31^st of July so neither of us can wait to get home! The statement, “there’s no place like home” has never seemed so true to either of us! Germany has become a comfy-cozy place to live, but Vermont will always be home.  This trip home is bittersweet because it will be SO good to be there, but the problem is we won’t want to leave!

The bad news is my husband is probably deploying to Afghanistan between January and March of 2011; therefore, this will most likely be his last time home to visit family before his unit is scheduled to leave. I will miss him, and I am incredibly proud of him, but it is his duty to serve our country and "he’s gotta do what he’s gotta do!" Many thanks to any other soldier or veteran who might be reading this post!

That’s it for now (I must get back to work)… Cheers!