Wow....what a week! Somehow time just seems to slip away from me ever so quietly...I often find myself wishing that it would SCREAM on it's way out of my life just to give me the wake-up that I need so badly. But in my life, time plays the part of a mute.....and it prefers to come back around and kick my hind end.

My main goal for the week was to finish all of my assignments before writing this online journal. I guess I could go ahead and get my grade book out and mark down a BIG, RED "F".......here I sit, writing this blog not having completed one of my assignments. Go figure......I usually shoot for the stars....and I usually miss! My other goal was to become familiar with the class websites by browsing around to see what I could find. I have found myself comparing this class to visiting a new city. When you first visit a city that you have never been to, you find yourself wandering around aimlessly looking for something familiar. In order to find that familiarity, you must get out and EXPLORE. You will never become familiar with something new unless you explore. Exploration will lead to discovery....often the discovery of things that you never knew existed. So I set aside this week as a week of exploration.....and each day I have discovered new things!

I shutter to use the words "relatively easy" as I think about the content of this week's assignments because I know that it will come back to haunt me....probably as soon as next week! I think the first week was designed to lead us gently into the abyss of computer networking. Most of the assignments were general in nature, like setting up our email accounts, yahoo groups, creating weblogs, and introducing ourself to the class. However, I kept reminding myself that this week of "leisure" would be short lived...but I also reminded myself to enjoy it while it lasted. I think I may have took the word "leisure" too literally because as I mentioned earlier, I didn't finish one of my assignments. I have often thought about legally changing my middle name to PROCRASTINATION.....it describes me perfectly! It was almost humorous at times, though. Assignments that I thought I would breeze through, ended up taking me more time. The content was simple enough, but I realized that my computer skills could definitely use some polishing. I encountered some difficulties in creating my weblog and joining the CD group......but most of the time I made myself go back and RE-READ the instructions.....and can you imagine, I figured it out. Speed reading is not a real good activity in this class.

Process, process, process........ On the first day of class, I had a brilliant idea. When I found out that we had 10 assignments for the week, I did some quick math (being the genius that I am....) and figured that if I did 2 assignments a day x 5 days, I would have my assignments done by Friday. That would leave me enough time to write my blog, yada, yada, yada..... Oh, it sounded rosy enough but I soon found that finishing 2 assignments a day was sometimes more than I "felt" like doing. I wasn't exactly sure if we had to follow the assignments in order, except for those that said "this can only be done when assignment 1.1.4 is done, etc.... This week I tried to group the assignments into categories......ones that had to be done on the internet, ones that had to be printed out, etc. That categorization may come in handy later because this week was such an array of assignments...then again, maybe not. I haven't exactly perfected the processes that I should use to complete my assignments. I would really like to get myself on some sort of "schedule". For instance, I would like to set aside a specific time each day to work on this class. Then the process of finding time to get the work done would be non-existent because I would ultimately try to plan my social life around my 315 life. I think that the processes that I used this week were sporadic to say the least. I would definitely like to find a "game plan" that works well with my life. I think when I finally develop a game plan, the process of completing my work will be much, much easier.

Good grief....I don't know how many reflections I have written in my 3 year CD career... but for some reason I feel that this blog is a mess of mumbo jumbo. I guess I could blame it on the fact that I have had 9 hours of sleep over the past 48 hours.....also not a good thing for this chic. Trying to be coherent with only a few hours of sleep leaves something to be desired. I am so excited to watch my "discipline" grow as I take this class. I consider myself to be an undisciplined person, but even after this first week I know that I will be much more disciplined in the end. I am technically already behind in my work and it isn't a good feeling. I don't like the feeling of being bogged down before I even get a good start. This first week has given me much to think about....specifically the way I get my work done. Usually it's a hit or miss situation..... But one of my goals for the session is to discipline myself and organize myself so that the work gets done in a timely and efficient manner. I can remember trying the discipline and efficiency plan in semesters past with no measurable progress, but somehow I get the feeling that this class will be GREAT in helping me to succeed. And as I was reflecting on the past week, I realized how amazingly thankful I am to be taking this class during the summer. Obviously, taking a summer course is not the ideal way to spend your summer days, especially after I just survived Orsini's Physics.....but I like the fact that I don't have any other classes hanging over my head. I can devote my time to completing this class.... but don't you worry, I won't have it any easier in the fall....it only means that I can take some other class! I imagine that I will be acting alot like Pooh this summer....sitting at my desk, pounding my head, saying "Think, Think, Think....."

I did encounter several questions as I worked my way through the first week. If for some reason I do not finish all of the assignments in one week, do I just write my online journal focusing on the assignments I have finished? Obviously my goal is to finish them all in one week, but I am not betting my life on it or anything...... I guess this next item really isn't a question but I thought about it as I was writing.....I feel like the blogs are more "personal" than the reflections that we did in class. I feel like I can be more open and free in my writing. Is this a good thing? I didn't know if the blogs were supposed to be straightforward and precise.....or can we add our own little flair and humor into it? I like the laid back feeling of writing these.....but if I did them wrong, I hope that someone will let me know. Honestly, this first week has been a learning experience. Each class I take holds its own challenges. This class is no different.....but I have always found that the challenges are really stepping stones for learning.