Last month I took my Level II C++ class, and it was the worst experience ever. I will post more about this, but for a bit of background, I am taking 5-week online classes at the University of Advancing Technology out of Tempe Arizona. My online instructor disappeared from the class for 3 of those weeks (later we found out he had a death in the family), we didn't get a new instructor until about 9 days left of the class, and were still awaiting grades and answers to questions from Week 1 on through. In the end I had to chalk this one up in the loss column and even decided to change my major to Web Design and Development:
Comment below any of your horrific class experiences you have lived through.
Suffice to say that the following is merely the class review that I wrote and posted:
This class has been the worst class I have ever taken in my education career,
and considering that throughout the past 14 years of my post-high school
education I have attended 3 professional colleges, and multiple military
training courses that is saying something. We didn't even get access to our
Pearson book until almost week 2 and even then content was missing and out of
order. It is now week 5 and I still have unanswered questions from week 1.
I am very sorry to hear of Professor Gardner's loss but I don't see how the
college can expect and entire class to pay for the way this class has gone. I
was originally told that if I filed for an incomplete that I would be provided
with 4-5 additional weeks to complete the coursework and given the lack of
grading, feedback, instruction and responses I felt that this would be necessary
for me to even get close to grasping how to successfully complete my
assignments. Now that I have realized that I will only be provided with 1 more
work with an incomplete after not having instructor assistance for practically
3+ weeks, I know that I just don't have the knowledge, experience or know-how to
successfully accomplish these tasks, to sit here and say that I truly do not
have the tools for success in this course honestly has brought so much stress
and many tears of frustration. We have been set up for failure in this course
and I commend those that have been able to pull out a win. I have slept no more
than 2 hours a night for weeks now to try to make it through this class and to
also stay on top of my other class that I have been taking at the same
time.
Disappointment doesn't even come close to what I feel for the way that
things have gone in this course. I had to have extensive talks with scheduling,
my advisor and other school officials due to this course. I have even made the
hard decision to step back and put myself backwards in my education to change my
major because this is just now an acceptable way to gain an education for me. I
am paying a lot to attend UAT and I had to get an additional personal loan to
pay for the difference between FAFSA and I have to work additional odd jobs and
second jobs on top of being a single mother just to afford to go to school and
then to have an experience like this is truly very frustrating for me.
I
have given so much to this course and I was failed. I understand that Professor
Coddington is not to blame for the previous issues, and I have had wonderful
results working with her in other courses. Unfortunately by the time that she
has come in to this class it was just too little too late for me. The damage
was already done. I have had to stand here in defeat to know that I must take a
loss for this course. It is very hard for me. I have never failed a college
course before in my life. I have never felt so inadequate and so utterly
deserted by an instructor. I have lost the trust that I had in my education
here. I have busted my butt to have the 3.9 GPA I have on top of life and this
kills me inside. I honestly don't know what else to say in reflection of this
experience.
I wish all of my classmates the best as they make many
additional life altering changes due to this experience from withdrawing from
school completely to changing colleges to changing programs of study and to
pushing through somehow. We have definitely put our blood, sweat and tears into
this, and I am drained. Thank you to anyone who has offered advice,
explanations and assistance. I treasure all of the votes of confidence and
apologize for failing in my own part of the effort.
Showing posts with label student. Show all posts
Showing posts with label student. Show all posts
Thursday, September 3, 2015
Friday, June 20, 2014
How Do You Define Technology & Culture?
You don't think about how hard it is to define such seemingly easy terms until you have to do it. This week my class discussion posts were about defining these two words, here is what I had to say. What is your definition? I am genuinely interested in your responses as I had a lot of people disagree with me.
To me culture can have as many definitions as there are people. It seems to be one of those revolving words that people interpret differently based on their own experiences that they bring to the table. For me, culture can be defined as a definition of a group of people. That is to include the individual heritage, history, beliefs, dress, and way of life, diet, as well as, customs and courtesies.
As a native Montanan, I grew up around many different tribes of Native Americans. There are also many different reservations located throughout the state. I first remember being introduced to cultural differences as a student participating in sports. This was when I had my first real exposure to other people who resided on a reservation. I have always been intrigued by those different than I am and love learning more about them and what forms their beliefs and thought processes. It was also eye opening to me to see how they would protect one another against outsiders. They were always so close knit and familial.
As a military member in the Air National Guard I was again faced with the close-knit community in the Guard, only this time I was a part of it. This was always referred to as the “Guard Family Culture.” It was a very rude awakening to me when I had to do extensive training with the active duty Air Force. Instead of the now “family” community culture that I had become accustomed to, I was instead faced with a culture of feeling of being more cut throat, and competitive with selfishness abounding. I was appalled at the lack of camaraderie that was displayed by the airman that I can in contact with. This exposure made my mind up that I would never want to be a part of the Active Duty Air Force culture. This has been reinforced to me with dealing of other service cultures; most notably, the Marine Corps. I had renewed faith in active duty camaraderie in watching how the Marines could come together as a “family” in the majority of their service members.
This is just one example of a type of cultural behavior that can cross between races and even in occupations. This can be further broken down in the military/civilian and even branches of service, down to what I experienced between the differences in the guard and active duty culture.
Culture
As a native Montanan, I grew up around many different tribes of Native Americans. There are also many different reservations located throughout the state. I first remember being introduced to cultural differences as a student participating in sports. This was when I had my first real exposure to other people who resided on a reservation. I have always been intrigued by those different than I am and love learning more about them and what forms their beliefs and thought processes. It was also eye opening to me to see how they would protect one another against outsiders. They were always so close knit and familial.
As a military member in the Air National Guard I was again faced with the close-knit community in the Guard, only this time I was a part of it. This was always referred to as the “Guard Family Culture.” It was a very rude awakening to me when I had to do extensive training with the active duty Air Force. Instead of the now “family” community culture that I had become accustomed to, I was instead faced with a culture of feeling of being more cut throat, and competitive with selfishness abounding. I was appalled at the lack of camaraderie that was displayed by the airman that I can in contact with. This exposure made my mind up that I would never want to be a part of the Active Duty Air Force culture. This has been reinforced to me with dealing of other service cultures; most notably, the Marine Corps. I had renewed faith in active duty camaraderie in watching how the Marines could come together as a “family” in the majority of their service members.
This is just one example of a type of cultural behavior that can cross between races and even in occupations. This can be further broken down in the military/civilian and even branches of service, down to what I experienced between the differences in the guard and active duty culture.
Technology
Initially, just thinking of a way to define technology feels like a daunting task. For me it is something that encompasses so many concepts that just one word is not enough. With that being said I will try to articulate how best I view the meaning of technology. Technology is something that can be used in addition to or separate from one’s own bodily limited methods. I mean this in terms that it can allow us to do more than we could without it.
From as far back as caveman with the addition of fire as a technology, a person could now cook and prepare food in a different way, which could also develop into a defense or attack method. Copper as a metal has been a great technological addition in creating tools and utensils with it. This allows new ways for someone to work faster and more efficiently, and with the creation of new weapons, one was able to better defend themselves and also to attack others, or even for use in hunting.
Later in history a chariot or carrier was added to a horse to be able to carry more items or to travel faster, and then even to aide in warfare. Progress forward even further in time and we can add in the radio to further communication and business and once again warfare. The spaceship has allowed further exploration and research and claims in space wars.
Technology allows a human to do more than they could previously have done; if left to the limitations of their own body. With only hands and feet we could not have hunted or fought or defended and foraged, and explored with the same effectiveness that we do now.
That is not to say that there have not been failures in technology only that even without continued success that each technology has allowed for a capability that would not have been there without it. Technology chooses no sides, it can be used for good or evil, and like a computer it is only as effective as its operator.
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| Homework Helper |
Saturday, April 12, 2014
Lessons Motherhood has Taught Me
In case you are interested in getting a sneak peak into some of the lessons I have had to learn as a single mother, I wanted to share this with you. Of course there are millions of tiny little lessons and this just touches upon the very tip of it, I thought it might be nice to hear some of your lessons as well.
Within the first month of me going from full-time military to a civilian contractor in support of the military, I surprisingly discovered that I was pregnant. From that moment on, I knew that to go through with this meant that I would be doing it completely on my own. At the time I wasn’t sure how this was going to work with my job and with being in the middle of gearing up for a house move. I admittedly knew very little about being a mother and the costs entailed and decided that I needed to make some life altering choices to make this work for me. I decided to go with a much lesser house to have a lower rent payment and I was doing what I could to prove myself at work so that I wasn’t in a position to lose my only source of income now that I was going to have another mouth to feed. I was actually gearing up to go back to school full time at this time as well and I had to put that on hold. It took several years for to find any sort of confidence in my “mommy” skills and to find the best routine and security in my job. I did end up changing companies for a better family benefits package and more job security. Now that I have established more security and stability, I no longer need to put school off, I am ready to go back. I have already been setting aside time in advance to ensure that I can succeed in this venture.
Before I get ahead of myself, I guess I better get back around to describing what I have learned from being a mother. I have learned more than can ever be put into words. I learned what the true meaning of time management is. You don’t realize how much free time you are wasting in life when you are younger until you forget what sleep is and pray for an extra 5-10 minutes in the morning to make it to work on time. I have learned what it truly means to be selfless and sacrifice for another human being. Previously I had thought that I was being selfless in life, but until I was a mother I never knew how easy it would be to put someone else needs, future and wants before my own. I learned what true unconditional love is. I have always had love for animals, but never had the love I felt for a person been unequivocally unconditional. I experienced the highest levels of stress and I learned the definition of “mommy guilt.” I have fought so many internal battles as I have grown as a person and entered into the process of learning what it is like to care for another person’s every need; to wish any pain and any hurt could be taken into me so that my son would never feel a second of discomfort. As my son has entered into toddler stage I have felt stress at the constant pushing of limits to constantly re-evaluate the way that I teach him in the best way possible for him. The search for the best way is new and different every hour; some days every minute. I have learned that in times of high stress I can reach anger much too quickly and that to yell can make me feel like the scum of the Earth. I have learned that I need to be easier on myself, that some days are good, and some are bad. Other lessons I have learned include learning how to take that deep breath and walk away until I am more level-headed. I have learned that I am not alone and that as our family of two, we are a team and must move forward together. Time management has become my best friend and has made me more efficient than I ever knew I could be at the most menial of tasks. I was always good at multitasking, but I have become a machine now.
Most importantly when it comes to incorporating these lessons into being a prospective student, I now know my limits, I know what I can and can’t handle and I know that pursuing education further is the best plan for me to achieve long-term security for my small family. The heightened confidence that I have achieved as a mother will be incorporated into bolstering my passion, drive and motivation to successfully accomplish this goal. I have the ability to do this at this time in my life, as routine has become second nature. I know that the longer I wait to get started, the more that I would enter into regret for lost time. As I have learned so many lessons thus far as a single mother, I relish the idea of all of the new lessons I will learn in the future.
Within the first month of me going from full-time military to a civilian contractor in support of the military, I surprisingly discovered that I was pregnant. From that moment on, I knew that to go through with this meant that I would be doing it completely on my own. At the time I wasn’t sure how this was going to work with my job and with being in the middle of gearing up for a house move. I admittedly knew very little about being a mother and the costs entailed and decided that I needed to make some life altering choices to make this work for me. I decided to go with a much lesser house to have a lower rent payment and I was doing what I could to prove myself at work so that I wasn’t in a position to lose my only source of income now that I was going to have another mouth to feed. I was actually gearing up to go back to school full time at this time as well and I had to put that on hold. It took several years for to find any sort of confidence in my “mommy” skills and to find the best routine and security in my job. I did end up changing companies for a better family benefits package and more job security. Now that I have established more security and stability, I no longer need to put school off, I am ready to go back. I have already been setting aside time in advance to ensure that I can succeed in this venture.
Before I get ahead of myself, I guess I better get back around to describing what I have learned from being a mother. I have learned more than can ever be put into words. I learned what the true meaning of time management is. You don’t realize how much free time you are wasting in life when you are younger until you forget what sleep is and pray for an extra 5-10 minutes in the morning to make it to work on time. I have learned what it truly means to be selfless and sacrifice for another human being. Previously I had thought that I was being selfless in life, but until I was a mother I never knew how easy it would be to put someone else needs, future and wants before my own. I learned what true unconditional love is. I have always had love for animals, but never had the love I felt for a person been unequivocally unconditional. I experienced the highest levels of stress and I learned the definition of “mommy guilt.” I have fought so many internal battles as I have grown as a person and entered into the process of learning what it is like to care for another person’s every need; to wish any pain and any hurt could be taken into me so that my son would never feel a second of discomfort. As my son has entered into toddler stage I have felt stress at the constant pushing of limits to constantly re-evaluate the way that I teach him in the best way possible for him. The search for the best way is new and different every hour; some days every minute. I have learned that in times of high stress I can reach anger much too quickly and that to yell can make me feel like the scum of the Earth. I have learned that I need to be easier on myself, that some days are good, and some are bad. Other lessons I have learned include learning how to take that deep breath and walk away until I am more level-headed. I have learned that I am not alone and that as our family of two, we are a team and must move forward together. Time management has become my best friend and has made me more efficient than I ever knew I could be at the most menial of tasks. I was always good at multitasking, but I have become a machine now.
Most importantly when it comes to incorporating these lessons into being a prospective student, I now know my limits, I know what I can and can’t handle and I know that pursuing education further is the best plan for me to achieve long-term security for my small family. The heightened confidence that I have achieved as a mother will be incorporated into bolstering my passion, drive and motivation to successfully accomplish this goal. I have the ability to do this at this time in my life, as routine has become second nature. I know that the longer I wait to get started, the more that I would enter into regret for lost time. As I have learned so many lessons thus far as a single mother, I relish the idea of all of the new lessons I will learn in the future.
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