To start I want to say my life will be changing dramatically here very shortly. Yes everyone, I am still pregnant. She was supposed to be due on June 3^rd, so we are still waiting!

But anyways, to go on with this I have noticed time management falls under both a weakness and a strength for me. I feel as if everyone can improve on their time management skills since life is always throwing new curve balls at us.

One of my greatest strengths is reading. Online learning requires a significant amount of reading. Which is something I love to do. So yay me!! I am also very good at finding key points within these readings. Which in my opinion is also a very good strength to have in online learning or just learning in general.

One of my weaknesses is being a very shy, anti-social person. I have a hard time contacting people when I need the help. I feel embarrassed to ask sometimes. I started being independent straight out of high school because I joined the military so sometimes it’s very hard to ask for help. I need to improve on my social skills and get over the fear of asking for help because sometimes you just need it. I know in some of my other courses I will be required to work in groups so improving on this will help me greatly with these types of projects. Also being able to contact other students or even my professors when I struggle with a certain assignment is something I may need to do in the future.

One major tool I will use to help me with future online learning will be highlighting while doing my readings to find those key points. This has always helped me. I will also be trying the method of playing music in the background while doing school work to help calm me and focus my studies. One other method I want to try that I haven’t yet due to the heat in California will be working outside in the fresh air, maybe next to a lake or river. Also suggested to me during my interview on an earlier assignment by Professor Sanchez was to find a new spot to do my school work instead of doing it in bed. So I will be looking into buying a desk so I can have a place where I can solely work on school.

Some of the OSU resources I would like to use in the future is Net Tutor. Next term I am taking a math class and math is probably my weakest subject. I also want to look into Khan Academy for help with my math as well. I also want to contact a success counselor to help me out with my future at OSU. And lastly I have already contacted my internship coordinator, Rebecca Goggans to help find the right place for me to internship at.

I actually have a few clear goals in mind. I will be taking the fall term off due to the move from California to Texas. I am afraid of not having the internet connection possible for doing online learning. So I want to wait until winter term to get back into school. After I get settled in Texas, I will begin my search for either an internship, a volunteer position, or even a part time job to help with getting the credits for my degree, as well as getting some experience with animals. On top of all this I will be helping my husband’s family with their elevator company. I will be dealing with all the paper work and finances of the company. And lastly I will be raising my daughter which will obviously be my greatest joy!

One last note to everyone! Thank you for all the advice you guys have given me and I greatly enjoyed having this class with all of you. Also I want to thank Professor Hoel for all the great encouragement. I wish you all the best of luck in your future of online learning, as well as any other great things you have planned for yourselves!

~Carrie Morgan 🙂