Thursday, June 19, 2008

Change is Constant

It's been so long since I've added anything to this blog that I could not remember the email account I used to create it. So much for my devotion to Web 2.0. Time to turn over a new leaf -- now that we finally have leaves on our trees in Wisconsin.

I made it through my first semester of graduate school. I did well. That really wasn't a surprise. I worked very hard. What did surprise me, however, was how much I enjoyed being in class! It's been a long time and since I'm taking courses online, everything has changed. For instance, now I look at a computer screen, not a teacher. I know my classmates by their login names, not their faces. Notes are not written on blackboards, but in PowerPoint presentations. And, in case you haven't figured it out by now, I'm older than my teachers.

It was wonderful! I loved the courses and the research and the interaction with classmates from all over the world. One classmate was teaching English in Baku on the Caspian Sea. The teacher checked in from his vacation in Uganda. And I chimed in from the spare bedroom, feet propped comfortably on a footstool, and the rest of me wrapped in a great big pink bathrobe (perfect for embarrassing teenage children). I learned that there are dozens of career opportunities in library science, and I also learned that I still like public libraries.

I'm looking forward to next semester. I am also hoping that I can be more organized. It should be possible now that I know how to logon to D2L, the distance learning software at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee. Go Panthers! Any organizational tips are much appreciated!