I'm so excited about the upcoming quarter at Berkeley, I feel like I'm going to a concert to see my favorite celebrity. I know there'll be no shortage of interesting subjects and activities to partake in, like the International Club and other school-sponsored trips. I can utilize my vacation time at work and arrange to go on some of these trips. I saw last quarter that there was a walking tour around Philadelphia, and how I really wished that I could go. But I always remind myself, "There's always next quarter."

And as usual, there's the Berkeley Student Blackboard, which keeps us informed about different activities at different campuses, as well as student polls ranging from serious to silly (but fun nonetheless). I also want to utilize the Career Board more fully this time around and explore my options. Perhaps I could find a job closer to my major in Business/Finance. I also plan to utilize the Financial Aid board more and look for scholarships that can help with some of the cost of tuition and books. I saw one particular scholarship that I'm applying for, and I hope I can get it, while still working my way through school. This quarter just holds so much promise for me; this isn't to say it's all smooth sailing, but I'm back in school. That's a major accomplishment in itself. So many people talk about going back to school, but don't know where to start or how to begin. Berkeley is a great start, and you feel no pressure from the counselors, only encouragement.

I'm so excited about the upcoming quarter. Just think, a new quarter and a new year all at the same time....as well as a welcome to all the new freshman and a welcome back to all the current students (be you online or on campus). I get excited just thinking about what we'll be learning in Philosophy; maybe I'll learn a little more about myself and my fellow classmates. It's like a show I watched on t.v. where the mom went back to school and she exclaimed, "I got excited just picking up my books!!!" Okay, so I haven't quite hit THAT level of euphoria yet, but going back to school is definitely the best decision I ever made for myself.

Also, to the individual who wanted to know whether or not to pursue online learning as opposed to classroom learning, I'd say this: it all depends on your schedule and flexibility. I chose online learning because I am a full-time worker who also has other responsibilities. And although I haven't yet gotten a computer, the great thing about Berkeley is that as a student, you are allowed to access their campuses to use the computers that they have there, while you can scrimp and save for your own desktop (or laptop, depending how on-the-go you are). And Berkeley has teamed up with Dell to offer students a discount on Dell computers and software. So it's a viable option all the way around. Whatever you decide, just know that hard work and dedication to your studies will ultimately make the grade. Good luck, and welcome to Berkeley (if this is your first year).

So I went on Blackboard recently and saw messages from my professors for next quarter. I'm very excited that I'm going to be learning Powerpoint this semester in my CIS 125 class. Powerpoint is a lot of fun; it's like a slide show on computer. And of course, with all of the Microsoft Office programs updated to 2007, it'll really be interesting to see what can be done with Powerpoint. I expect nothing short of amazing things in this class.

My Business 265 class also looks like an interesting one; it looks almost similar to what we've covered in our Business Admin. 110 class. We also have to do a business report (probably something similar to what I had to do in high school), which could turn out to be a lot of fun. I think it's exciting to do your own research and be able to share with your classmates what you've found out.

Philosophy looks to be the class I may have to work a little harder at than the others this semester. I know I'm not a slacker, but I was just reading the course description, and I can't help but feel slightly intimidated. But with some hard work and effort, I'm sure I'll be able to successfully pass the class this coming quarter. It's hard to believe I already have one quarter behind me.

The Career Services Network is another avenue available to us via the Student Blackboard. It has a wealth of information regarding full-and-part-time positions that we can obtain while working toward our various degrees. I haven't actually had a chance to really search it thoroughly, but I intend to. There really seems to be a wealth of information regarding how to become a manager, mentoring as a tool for success, and how our Internet profiles via MySpace, Facebook, and others can help us in our career goals (finally obtaining that perfect position at some point in our career).

The CSN also offers information on various internships that students could partake in; I did not realize that you could inquire about using your own employer for possible internships. This would be particularly helpful for those students (such as myself) who may not necessarily want to leave their employers, but may want to advance within the company itself. There are also valuable resume writing skills to be had. A Resume Writing Handbook is available to download and print off the computer for your own personal reference. So, it would be in our best interests to take advantage of EVERY avenue Berkeley College offers us via the Blackboard. I intend to take advantage of this one fully.

I said it before, but it bears repeating: there is a WEALTH of information on the Student Blackboard, particularly if you're an online student and do most of your communicating via computer. The different activities that you can get involved in, the financial aid information (saw a few scholarships I wanna apply for), student accounts: it's all at your fingertips with a few clicks of the mouse and a few strokes of the keys. This is how I was able to find out the library hours for all of the Berkeley campuses in New Jersey. Maybe one day when I'm visiting my sister in Brooklyn and I have some coursework to finish, I could travel to one of the New York campuses. And when my sister brings up the subject of school again, I'm gonna volley hard for Berkeley.

As for classes, I was pleasantly surprised at my grades this semester. Not that I didn't work hard (because I did), but I did have a little bit of trouble with some of my assignments. But thank goodness for the wonderful professors at Berkeley College. It really takes a lot to be a good professor. You have to be firm, yet understanding, making sure that the student really gets the information that you're giving to him. And my current GPA can really help me when I go to apply for certain scholarships. Another thing that will help me tremendously is getting involved in some of the student activities that I speak so repetitiously of (that's because I really want to be involved in some small way; but I guess I am with the student polls), because most committees want to know about your extracurricular activities and volunteer efforts. This is my third time in school, and as they say, I want the third time to be the charm. I want to go on educational trips and see sights that I can come back and share with you, the Berkeley students and staff.

I really am enjoying being a correspondent for Berkeley College, but sometimes I feel that I fall short, especially when reading the other students' blogs. I know it's because I'm busy with other things and simply don't have the time to participate in other activities on campus and outside of the classrooom (both real and virtual), but I still have a feeling of wanting to really belong. And when I say really belong, I mean being a part of the TOTAL college experience.

Like take for instance the International Club and all of the fun activities that they're involved in. Or other activities like 'chillaxing', having 'mocktails', and having fun with faculty and fellow students. I do have the comraderie, but I really desire the human contact. So what I'm planning to do (possibly next fall) is to take at least one course on campus and the rest online. That way I'll have the benefits of both experiences. But it's something to be considered in the future. I do like online learning as far as convenience goes, but sometimes I wanna see the people behind the monitors (professors, students, etc.).

I just checked the Blackboard for my grades, and I got a B+ for my final grade in CIS 104. A B+!!!!! That's great, considering what a rocky start I got off to, and some of the minor mistakes I made on some of my assignments. I actually was fretting about this last assignment the most, because I couldn't see the pictures that I had pasted on the website we had to create. But apparently, it's because one of my computer systems doesn't have the program needed to view the pictures. But I got an A on both the classwork and the reinforcement assignments.

Now I'm just waiting for the final word on my other classes. I have one more test for Professor Buonaguro and one more case assignment for Professor Luing to submit, and then I'll be done for the quarter (in preparation for the next quarter, that is). Who knows what new and exciting challenges and experiences await me? Seriously, learning new things and re-enforcing what I already know never gets old or boring for me. I can only hope that I'll continue to make the same progress that I've made thus far.

So I posted in our final discussion board for this week in CIS 120. Professor Buonaguro noted my enthusiasm for all things Excel and Access, and she said that Berkeley College offers advanced Access and Excel classes (could she be talking about CIS 125, I wonder?). I am definitely up for a challenge, and knowing Berkeley College, it'll be nothing short of challenging, yet exciting.

Also, my environmental science course has come to an end. Professor Jackson just posted for us to complete any and all quizzes missed, and that's it. I already miss that class, discussing the environment and the habitat of different creatures and how we can make a difference in the world our children and their children will inherit in the future.

I also have to finish up all my work for Business Math. I had a not-so-good week last week; I got very sick all of a sudden and was rushing again to play catch up. But between today and tomorrow, I should have everything all caught up. I want to get the best grade possible in all of my courses. I don't want to be kicking myself, saying, "I definitely could've done better." So as I prepare for the next quarter, I want the end of this quarter to reflect all the hard work and time and effort that I've put in.

I jumped the gun a little; apparently CIS 104 isn't quite over. We have an online survey, a Discussion board, and something due next week. Professor Ritt said that we were one of her best classes and one of her most enthusiastic. I'm glad to have been a part of that, sharing my experiences with other classmates and vice versa. We certainly were able to learn from each other, whether we did everything right and had the same concerns; or whether one or two of us did something wrong and we were able to help each other out in our understanding.

But I really did enjoy it, and I'm somewhat sad at this quarter coming to an end. Hopefully Professor Ritt or Professor Buonaguro is teaching my CIS 125 class this semester. As I'm sure all of the professors at Berkeley College are wonderful, it just wouldn't be the same for me without one or the other of them teaching this course. And I'm looking forward to working with Outlook and Power Point next quarter. Maybe I could become a professor myself, teaching one of these courses. There are just so many possibilities to be explored this time around, now that I'm back in school. It just goes to show that you're never really too old to learn anything new or consider anything new.

Our final project for CIS 104 involved creating a web page and hyperlinks. It was pretty fascinating, watching it all come together. As one of my classmates exclaimed, "It was like art being created right before your eyes!!!"--or something similar she said. But she was absolutely right; it was like art being created on a canvas. The only thing is, when I went to submit it through Assignment Manager and I checked to make sure everything was okay, the chart and the pictures didn't show; all I got were red X's. So I'm a little scared that I may be penalized for that (hopefully not too much, though). I fared better on the reinforcements, so we'll see what happens.

As for Access, our final project is this week and then our final assessment is December 12, which is next Wednesday. I'm looking forward to showing Professor Buonaguro what I'm made of as far as Access. As she knows (and as some of you may know), I don't have constant accessibility to Microsoft Access, and then this past week, I was very sick and couldn't get to the library or the computer labs the way I wanted, and so I made some mistakes on this past project. But again, I'm gonna prove my mettle and pass this course. If you fall, you have to get up eventually. So that's what I intend to do with this course. This is not to say that I've done miserably, however; I have managed to do well on most of my projects in CIS 120.