Upon completion of my first week of school, I find myself overcome with an array of emotions. First, I am excited...not only to get my last year of college here at Marshall started, but also to really begin making connections and applying the information I've accumulated through my studies here over the years. As far as this past week goes, my primary aim was to get focused! I've been at the beach the whole summer, and while there, I acquired quite a "beach mentality." In case anyone is unclear of exactly what this is it's a free-spirited, anything goes, no worries, no time constraints type of attitude. While adopting this mentality was fine for my previous environment, it is clearly not suitable for the rigors of college life (especially in the CD program). So, with all that being said...I've been trying my best to regroup, reorganize, and get my life back into a set routine. Although I'm not fully back into the swing of things yet, I'm certain everything will fall into place in the forthcoming weeks.

In addition to excitement, I also find myself a bit nervous and scared. I mean this is it...the time for us as students to really find out what our field entails and start piecing together this crazy puzzle. I'm not sure why but I've always placed a lot of stress and anxiety on myself. While some may see this as a negative attribute, over the years, I've come to accept this as part of my being, and have used it to help me instead of bring me down. I've learned that stress (the positive kind) can really help direct and motivate me to get things done. For instance, I knew I had certain deadlines to meet for this week's assignments. So, I sat down at my computer, followed the instructions, and sent out the assignments accordingly. The deadlines and the fact that they're for a grade served as the stressors motivating me to get my work finished. One problem I encountered was that I really had to resist the urge not to complete them all at once. I found that was very difficult for me because I am the kind of person who doesn't like having work hanging over my head. I like to get it done, be finished, and not have to think about it again for a while. Actually, maybe that's the point of having us work on a few projects each day or every other day...to keep us thinking! If our class actively practices and applies the skills we learn from the assignments, then we'll be more likely to become really proficient with networking and the Internet. Still, it will be quite a challenge for me this year to space the assignments out over the two week completion span. That's where good time management skills really come in handy! I recently bought a new planner which is pretty detailed and should really help me with this. (Planners work well for me but I've been wanting to get a Palm Pilot for a long time, so hopefully I'll be able to purchase one fairly soon).

Clearly, my thinking and views about technology will continue to evolve over the course of this semester. It's amazing to me how a person can do almost anything today through the use of computers (granted they have the proper instruction and equipment). With technology advancing so rapidly, I feel very fortunate to have a course which will provide me with the necessary skills to feel confident communicating/working in cyberspace (I think I've already mastered how to "play"). I love to keep a personal journal, however, online journaling for a class is something that I've never attempted. I like the fact that I can be a bit more informal and conversational while still meeting the given criteria (at least I hope I can be that way...actually I don't really know yet since I'm a first timer!). Who knows by the end of the semester I may be doing ALL of my journaling online. It's crazy for me to think that now, but it's definitely possible.

In closing, I came across a couple of quotes in an old poetry/quote journal of mine that I think are quite fitting for this class. One can interpret them any way they wish, but they have definitely helped me to realize that maybe cyberspace isn't as unconquerable as I had previously imagined.

"Nothing in life is to be feared. It is only to be understood." --Marie Curie

"To understand something is to give up some other way of seeing it..." --Walt Whitman

Adios for now! :)