So Access wasn't the big monster I expected it to be, although as Professor Buonaguro pointed out, there IS a lot of typing. And the bad thing about the library where I live is that you're only allowed an hour on the computers with Internet access. And one of the ones that just so happens to be really popular is the one with--you guessed it--the Microsoft Office Programs downloaded. So I'm going to go to the librarian and ask her if there's any possible way that they could download Access to one of the word processors. If not, I won't let that stop me. I will do what I intended to do in the beginning: just type a little each week and then submit it all at the end of the week. I don't intend to let anything deter me from my goals. Where there's a will, there's a way, and that should always apply to anything that you want in life--particularly in your educational life.

I'm wondering, too, if the College is open the day after Thanksgiving for me to catch up on some coursework (or at least give me a head start on the following week's projects, since I'm pretty current with my work at this time). The beauty of the Thanksgiving break is that I'll get caught up on some necessary reading for any projects that have to be turned in. It's sometimes difficult to do at work, what with the phones ringing and co-workers and customers stopping to talk to me about anything from work to membership information to what I'm studying in school (although I'm always willing to share what I'm learning in school--just not while I'm studying).

I'm also wondering if Berkeley has a student bulletin board (in addition to the Blackboard Announcements that we have online) where students could gather information. As I said, I've been to the Newark campus, but that was only to take the placement test; I never really got a chance to look around. And there's always the chance that in the future, I'll be able to take a course on campus, so why not get a feel for it now? With the babysitting available to Berkeley students, maybe I could leave my niece for an hour or two while I took a course or got some work done in the library.

Now I know why business math is so interesting and why some of the subjects are so familiar; some of these same subjects were covered when I took accounting I and II and algebra at UCC. This week, we're working on FIFO and LIFO (first-in, first-out and last-in, first-out) and inventory. Since it's a familiar topic, I gather I shouldn't have much trouble (but if I do, I'll just e-mail Professor Luing and have her help me).

So Friday is the big day; I'm finally going to be making use of one of the Berkeley libraries (the campus in Newark, to be precise). While I'm there, I'm gonna browse the bookstore, too, just to see what they offer as far as software and programs for the upcoming Winter quarter (I know that the Microsoft Office products are being updated to 2007 for the next quarter). In the meantime, I'll be working on my Access project this week from my mom's place of employment. As it turns out, they have a library where she works that's open to the public and they have many of the same programs that we use in our online courses. I'm like a big kid, I'm so excited.

With astonishing speed, the end of the Fall quarter is in sight. So now that I've put in my time and work, I know what to expect for the next quarter and how to be prepared this time around (as far as books and keeping up with the coursework, that is). My first introduction to my professors won't be "I didn't get the book in time"(lesson to all: prior proper planning). As soon as I get the course requirements and the text requirements, I'm gonna order the books RIGHT AWAY. Even if I have to do it in pieces, I'm gonna be completely ready for this coming quarter.

This is the last week of Excel with Prof. Buonaguro, and next week we start Access. I'm a little nervous, but excited at the same time. This deals with databases and records (similar to what we do in both Excel and Word; but more with Word, because it looks as if we'll be doing some merging there, too). I've done Access briefly, but this time I plan to learn it more proficiently. When you look in the classifieds, most of the office jobs today require you to have a working knowledge of most (if not all) of the Microsoft programs. I'll probably be using the Berkeley library in Newark (if allowed) to do most of my work with Access, as I'm only allowed limited use at the library in Summit and at work, there is no 'access' to Access (only the systems administrator has Access). I can't get a laptop fast enough.

This week in Business Math, we're learning about consumer rates on credit cards and mortgages and that sort of thing. Prime rates are something we need to be concerned about, especially if we plan on taking out a loan for a house or a car. If the prime rates rise above what we can comfortably afford, we can find our cars and homes repossessed, not to mentioned our credit scores would be lower (and quite possibly our credit ruined).

As it turns out, my student peer is in one my online courses (environmental biology). She is very intelligent, and she really seems to love Berkeley and the professors, as well as her fellow students. I'm hoping that we could meet one day and she could show me around the Garret Mountain campus in West Paterson, as opposed to me just interacting through the Internet. Don't get me wrong; discussion boards are great for interaction, but sometimes you just need human contact.

This week's Word project....

Professor Ritt wasn't kidding when she said that the assignments would get more challenging. We learn how to merge letters AND labels in this chapter, as well as how to create a directory. Now I've done stuff like this before, but this was in business school about 13 years ago, and we never did the projects that we're doing now.

But it's interesting, because the question Professor Ritt posed to us was: Do you see a need for use of the mail merge feature where you work or will you see a need for mail merge in the future (or the merging of different records)? And I can think of a few uses now.

For instance, when we have to send out letters for camps, scholarships, or different registrations, instead of using a form letter, we could do a merge with the names of the recipients and their addresses. And we could also use the merge feature for households where either the parents or the children have signed up separately, instead of as household members.

This week's biology reading....

So as I've said before, I'm really enjoying environmental science in a way I never thought I would. But this week's readings were a bit hard for me to process (especially when I saw some of the pictures in the readings).

The first had to do with food production and how in some parts of the world, there are people who suffer from undernutrition, malnutrition (particularly in recently developed and developing countries), and overnutrition (particularly in developed countries and the U.S.).

Then the chapter on maintaining biodiversity (the species approach) was especially hard to take; to see what people have done to animals for either sport, skins, or other valuable resources is cruel and oftentimes demeaning to the animals. And if these animals are not left alone to fulfill their roles (or niches) in society, pretty soon, the picture will be grim for all of us. :( There were some pretty graphic photos, too; I actually burst into tears looking at one of them. It's made me seriously consider becoming a vegan in the future, but at present, it's spurred me to do some more research on my own in addition to what we cover in class. The great thing about the book is that there is a website link posted where you can look up more information on your own.

A disadvantage to learning online....

It didn't even hit me until I got to work this morning and our server went down that I considered the downside of online learning: computer malfunctions. If you don't have a chance to save your work on a backup disk before submitting it to your professors and the system goes down, that's a whole lot of work to be redone.

Both our regular and administrative websites went down, and people were calling in and asking what could be done to register their kids. And I thought about that in relation to attempting to do coursework online and/or registering for classes for successive quarters online. What if, in the middle of registering for a class, power goes out in your house and you have to wait until the power comes back up and when you go to register for the class, you find that it's closed? Or, what if you've typed a really long essay for one of your professors, only to have to re-type it or re-submit your work?

Fortunately, I've submitted my work right away to my professors so that this hasn't happened. But it is a thought that I've never considered before now. All the same, the benefits outweigh the negatives, and it's a viable alternative to anyone planning to enter (or even re-enter) school that doesn't have time to set foot on campus. And the Berkeley professors and advisors are the greatest; they take even your smallest concerns seriously and work with you to give you a schedule that meets your educational needs.

Okay, so I've been enjoying my classes from the start, but I definitely like the feeling that I get when I feel like I've helped somebody else understand something. It's not like I'm just taking up space on the Discussion Board by saying, "I agree" or "That's so true". I'm also able to offer some input or help someone to see where they went wrong with a problem or a step (especially if it was something that I originally had trouble with), and I'm able to give the benefit of my experience in certain classes (like with the business math and environmental science).

It's made me seriously think about becoming an online tutor for Berkeley, although a few years ago I never would've imagined it. I would want to help other students not only learn the material, but get enjoyment from what they've learned and help them to put it into practice not just in the classrooms, but in everyday life. Something else for me to consider farther down the road.