The other side of the fence

Have you heard the saying "the grass is greener on the other side of the fence?" Well, I used to think illogically about people that had a lot of money. I believed that they were happier in their lives than people with out money. These feelings would overwhelm me as I struggled to provide for two beautiful young girls. It took a while before opportunities presented themselves to me that allowed me to see that their lives were more happy than my own. They stressed about money, family, friends, and jobs just like I did. I realized that I had been thinking illogically about the wealthy. Coming to this realization was an eye opening experience and helped to change the way I viewed other groups of people with out having the opportunity to know them.

Collaborative Thoughts on Paper

Our document is finally finished! It was a wonderful experience! The ladies in my group and myself collaborated this paper. Together we introduced new ideas and perspective into our document. I do not believe I could have written this paper as well if I had done it alone. To the ladies in my group...THANK YOU! I would also like to say thank you to all of you that made suggestions on our paper. You brought new vision to this paper. As John Maxwell said "one is too small of a number to achieve greatness. Greatness is achieved by collaboration."

Looking In and Looking Out

I have noticed, that for many of my classmates, peer reviewing can be very stressful. They get very offended by anther students suggestions. At first, I felt the same way. It took a little while to grasp how beneficial this process truely is.  I got very frustrated that someone did not like my ideas the way I saw them. After writing and re-writing with the recommended suggestions I realized that I need to look at my paper differently.  For all my classmates, I hope you come to find this process useful in your writings today and in the future.

Constant authority

Sometimes I feel like I am constantly in a position of authority. Some people feed off of having that responsibility. I, however, do not. I enjoy being a mother and with that comes with the most important position of authority. You use that authority to help guide your children. In addition to being a mother I have worked as an office manager for the last ten years. This position requires me to have a great deal of authority, most of which is over other employees. At the end of the day I look forward to that moment when I can just sit down and relax. For me, the constant authority can become overwhelming. Does anyone else feel this way?

My favorite network

My family, friends, classmates, and professors make up my favorite personal learning network. Within this network I recieve, love, encouragement, and knowledge. The knowledge that I get from my professors and classmates challenges me on a scholastic level. The knowledge that I receive from my family and friends challenges me on personal level. My network empowers me! With this network combination I cannot fail any challenge that presents itself.

Networking my business

In addition to working a full time job, being a mom to teenagers, and being a full time student, I have a small, but growing, business. I have found that networking is imperative for the success of my business. Having little time to get out and meet people, networking has become a life line of sorts. Some have heard about it in magazines, it has even been highlighted on some major news shows, but mostly it is heard through friends or family. I use Facebook, Twitter, and Pintrest as a means to let people know about my company and products. It is a very useful tool because I can reach people in other states and in other countries. My business would not survive with my very on personal network.

Blogging for Education

At first, the concept of blogging frightened me. I hated the idea that perfect strangers would read my personal thoughts and opinions and then make comments.  Sometimes I tend to care too much of water other people think and then I learned something powerful. Because I did not have a personal relationship, most of the time, with the readers of my blog, their responses helped me to see from a different perspective.
I used the feedback to write more descriptively or to tone it down. Sometimes what I thought I was expressing was not what was interpreted. I believe that this is the whole point of Professor Hamon's teaching style.

Exhausted

Arguing with people is something I dread. I recently had an argument with my fiance that took an emotional and physical toll on me. I was deeply affected by the choice of words that he used. Those words had more of an impact than the actual argument itself. This argument left us distant for many days. A week later the same circumstances that started the original argument repeated itself, only this time it was me with grievance. I chose to stay silent. My reaction confused him. He said that he was expecting the same response from me that I had received from him. I pointed out the cause and effect of our first argument and told him that I learned from it. I had realized that by repeating the first response would only create a larger divide between us. I hope that he also learned from my reaction to prevent unnecessary distress in the future.

Writing about Personal Learning Networks as a group

I am intrigued by our first writing assignment in English Composition II. Understanding the pros and cons of having a personal learning network. Once mastered, I believe that they are quite beneficial. 

Working on a paper with others can be an interesting learning experience. I have had both good and bad experiences; however, there is no hiding your contribution or lack there of when using this format.

Learning the proper writing techniques is something I am looking forward to.

Happy to be back

I am ecstatic to be back in Professor Hamon's class! I am ready to learn more about my writing style. My future is in the legal field and I feel that this class and its focus on persuasive writing will make a huge impact on my future writing.