Day 7 Journal, July 5, 2011

It is hard to believe that I have been writing every day for a week. Only three more weeks to go! This has been a fun and challenging experience as I learn to express myself better. I am also getting to know my classmates better through reading their blog entries. One entry I read really surprised me because the person sounded almost angry at having to do the work. I know that everyone is busy, busy, busy, but I find that taking the ten or fifteen minutes a day to write really helps me to focus my thoughts. It also challenges my brain to keep coming up with new things to write about. I really need to get finished up on my "I Believe" essay since it is due tomorrow. At first I thought that a two to three page essay was an insurmountable challenge, rather like climbing a mountain. However, when I really stop to think about it, it really isnt going to be so bad. I have to do writing in another class I am taking and sometimes I surprise myself in just how wordy I can get. Writing is kind of like owning an old car. It may take a bit to get it started, but once you do it just keeps going and going and going. I have even thought about continuing to do journal entries after this class is over. Maybe not everyday but at least once a week would be good. Ms. A is right, good writing takes practice. Since I have many more classes to take, I am sure I will have many more essays and such to write so I should keep my skills up. I even find myself thinking throughout the day about what I am going to write about that night. Now the next challenge is to decide which of my entries I want to submit to Ms. A as my favorite for the week. I was a bit worried that this week would be overwhelming with all the writing, but I am trying to take it one day at a time. Having a well organized week with everything on my calendar has been a lifesaver. I might try doing some spreadsheets next semester and see if that works any better. The squares on my calendar are only so big, so I have to squish a lot of stuff into a small space. Maybe a seperate calendar grid for each class would be better. Either that, or I need a really big dry erase board to track everything. There is a certain amount of satisfaction in being able to mark assignments off as I get them done. I just have to be careful not to mark out something that isnt done yet. And if I dont write them all down to start, I will miss something. I am really glad that I took on the challenge of online classes this semester. It was a different experience than a seated class, but I have gained a tremendous amount of confidence in myself as I take on and succeed with each new assignment. Now my son is standing over my shoulder, reading what I have written and offering some "helpful" advice. In reality, he is just waiting for me to get done so he can use the computer to Facebook. Now there is something to write about. That unique social experience of Facebook with all its pros and cons and what does it really say about the people who use it? Yeah, I think I will save that for another day and sign off for tonight. Got to get some sleep so I can have some fresh brain cells for tomorrow.