Not goodbye... just see you later :-)

Hello everyone! Well it is the last week of this term and it has really been a tough one for me! I have had a lot going on in my life this term, more than I have had to endure so far since I started here at Kaplan. This class has been a little difficult for me, I have never been really good at writing! However, I have learned many concepts in this class that I hope will come in handy for future classes! Some of my burdens have been lifted in the last couple of weeks, I was *finally* able to find a full-time job after two years of looking, my father is doing much better, and my son will soon be getting help through the local school system to help him with his learning delays!!! It looks like my next term will go a lot better for me since some of my stress is gone :-) I just hate it has been so crazy this time around and my grades had to suffer because of it. I just need to keep in mind my main motivation for going back to school, to better my career and show my kids that they can do ANYTHING they set their minds to and not let anything get in the way of that. I wish all my fellow classmates the best in their future classes and I hope to see some of you in classes to come :-)

Gale Pressley

The Journey Continues...

Hello everyone! I cannot believe we are in the last couple of weeks of this term, it has really flown by! This has probably been one of the harder terms I have been through so far. My family has gone through many changes and I think it has affected my schoolwork. My husband had recently taken on a third shift job on top of the day job he has and I am still worrying about my son and his speech therapy. He has gotten a new speech therapist that will begin working with him once a week at my home, which is going to work out great :-) and shortly after his third birthday (which is Saturday) the school system is also going to be working with him to help get him ready for preschool. They will be doing speech therapy along with any other therapy they feel he may need for school. My father has also had some health problems the past few months as well. With everything that has been going on, my schoolwork has suffered a little. I am trying to still focus on school and am keeping in mind the reason why I decided to go back to school. I want to show my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to :-) and you should always go after your dreams. Things have gotten better, and I am striving to go after my dream. I want to study to get my master's degree in nursing and to one day be a pediatric nurse practitioner. I know I will be in school for a looooong time, but I can do anything I set my mind to! I hope I do well on my final paper and I hope you all do too! Good luck to everyone :-)

Gale Pressley

To Blog or Not to Blog...

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week! I cannot believe that this term is almost over, it has gone by so fast. It seems like all of the courses I have taken so far have gone by really fast :-) However, thats just fine with me because I know that each course I complete gets me that much closer to my career! I am not really sure if I will continue to blog after this class or not. I have really enjoyed blogging though! This is the first time I have really had the opportunity to do so. I think it has helped me to be more comfortable communicating with my fellow classmates, and I also believe it has helped improve my writing skills as well. I believe I will continue blogging even after this class is over. Perhaps it will become a creative outlet for me :-) Hope everyone has a great week and I will see you all in class!!!

Gale Pressley

What a Week!!!

Hello everyone! I hope everyone had a good week! I heard some really shocking news over the weekend that had me and my whole workplace absolutely floored. I have been working at a car dealership for a little over two years and have worked as both a receptionist and a service cashier. I had worked with a service advisor that had been there a little longer than I had, and he was just the sweetest guy to work with. He was always so good with the customers and everyone that he worked with. He just recently left our dealership to work with one about 15 minutes away, so I haven't seen him recently. However, while watching the news yesterday morning I learned that a man was riding a bicycle late one night and was struck and killed by a drunk driver. The driver drove away from the scene was caught a few hours later. The driver of that car was (allegedly) my former coworker. I have been in a state of shock ever since I saw this story. I have so many mixed feelings, this coworker was a very dear friend of mine. My heart is also so heavy for the family of the man that was killed. He was a father of four who had been riding a bike so that he could save money for his children, he had three in college and a special needs child at home as well. Its just such a sad situation for everyone involved, so if anyone in the class does pray, please keep everyone in your prayers. This is a good man, however, justice must be served to punish him and help bring some kind of closure for the family, it is just hard for me because he has always been such a good friend. I hope everyone has a good week, and I will see everyone in class! Here is the link to the story if anyone would like to read more: http://www.wsoctv.com/news/26657256/detail.html
Gale Pressley

Crazy Life...

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is doing well! Life these past six weeks have been crazy for me! I have been stressed to limits I never knew I had. It has been so difficult to balance my family, school, and work life. My father has been battling some health problems and I am in the process of getting my transitioned from his current speech therapy into a local school system based therapy. It is similar to an early preschool program, he will go to school with other children and will get speech therapy and help with any other learning delays he may have. It will be so good for him, however, having to deal with all these appointments can be very time consuming! I stay at home with both of my children during the week and it is very rare that I ever get time alone, except on Saturdays which is the one day a week that I do work. Like a lot of my fellow classmates, my schoolwork has taken a hit lately due to all the circumstances in my life right now. My grades have fallen slightly, and sometimes I barely get my work in before the deadline. I chose to attend Kaplan so that I can show my children that they can do anything they set their mind to and that its never to late to achieve their dreams. I plan to go further as soon as they are both in school, I want to eventually get my master's degree in nursing and become a midwife someday. I know its a long shot and that it will take a lot of hard work to get there, but attending Kaplan is a great start! I know that finally having a career will help my family out a lot and will make me great about myself. I just have to remember that my kids are my main motivation for attending school, and try not to let all the circumstances in my life stand in the way of achieving my goals! :-) Hope everyone has a great week and good luck on the draft!!!

Gale Pressley

Academic Life Thus Far...

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week! I have been out of high school for almost six years now. It took me a while to figure out what I really wanted to do with my life. After graduating, I took a few classes at a local community college but I never really had any direction. After much prayer and research, I finally have decided that I want to be a registered nurse one day. However, it is virtually impossible for me to go to college full-time. I am a stay at home mom to two very young children and my son is currently going through speech therapy so a lot of my time is spoken for :-) (but it is very worth it!) I decided to look into different online schools so I could go ahead and take some classes and discovered Kaplan University and realized that I could get my associate's degree for medical assisting online and wouldn't have to worry about getting back and forth to school and worry about who is going to take care of my children! Since starting my classes back in April, it has changed me in so many ways! I am much more motivated now and it has also helped me to become more disciplined as well. I want to show my kids that you can do anything you set your mind to, and I hope to be a good example to them. I can't wait to get my degree, and everytime I get an assignment turned in I know I am getting closer and closer to that goal. :-) I hope everyone has a great week and I will see you all in class!!!

Gale Pressley

My Thoughts on Plagarism

Hello everyone! I hope everyone is having a good week! I briefly learned about plagiarism while I was in high school. At the time, I never really understood the seriousness of it. After learning more about plagarism in college, I understand how wrong it is. If I put a lot of time, effort, and hard work into writing a piece, I would want someone to give me credit for my work. If a student were to plagiarize a paper, it could have serious consequences ranging anywhere from failing a class to being expelled from the school. I don't believe you are really learning anything anyway if you just copy someone else's work. Citing your work is also very helpful to the reader of your work. If the reader wanted to go back and read more on a subject, having that reference makes it easier for them to look that information up. I would hope that if I ever wrote a piece that someone would give me credit for all my hard work, and not just copy it. :-) Hope everyone has a good week!!!

Gale Pressley