Hi Everyone, Hope all is going well with you and that you have all succeeded on your final projects. I am looking forward to another new year and leaving the challenges and tragedies of the last 2 years a little further behind me. I am grateful that I have made it this far and though it has been a struggle with many losses in my family and financial losses in my business, I am blessed that I have the opportunity to go to college and start over. So as the new year embarks upon me I will only continue to look forward, while cherishing the memories of those I lost. I am grateful for the friends I've made online here at school, they have been a blessing and a lot of fun. It was great meeting you Eddie, thanks for making changes to your schedule and stopping in Atlanta to meet me. It was great fun! I will be in Richmond soon I'm sure. Good Luck to all of you on your journey with Kaplan. I hope that you all have a beautiful holiday season and that life treats you with kindness along the way and brings you much peace in all that you do.
Tracie

Hi Everyone, I hope you are all having great success on your final projects. I am completely exhausted, this has been a challenging term for me for some reason. The work load seemed like more than usual between the two classes. I guess because in my other class I had to do 2 postings and 4 responses in our discussion board as well as 2 quizzes each week. Then we had our projects for this class each week, our discussion board and this blog.The Christmas break will be my gift this year. I'm taking this week 10 to study for my national exam scheduled for the 22nd. Once that is done, it will be relaxation time for me to turn my office area into an art studio and sink into doing some paintings. Final blog to come. I hope life is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

Life at Kaplan for this year is coming to an end. It has been a great journey, I have made some friends and learned a lot. I'm looking forward to the new year and working on my majors. Not sure if I will continue posting to this blog. I may set up a personal one so I can keep those old friends in Chicago up to date on my life journey. It has been a very interesting class this term and a lot of challenges along the way, but it was all worth it. I wish all you much success and I hope life treats you with kindness. Be safe!
Tracie

So we are getting down to the wire with this term. I love the last couple weeks of class and hate it at the same time. While the excitement of moving on and getting closer to graduation with the close of each term, there is also the pressure of the deadlines for finals and projects. I am really looking forward to getting my final papers completed and hoping that I can continue on with decent grades. I feel like some of the writing class was more like a review from all of my previous writing courses and that when it came to my CAM class there was just not enough time to cover all the great topics. I am looking forward to embarking upon this new year with my state license in massage and opening my business, as well as accomplishing more in college and reaching those goals. I hope life is treating you all with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

Burning sensations in my eyes from all the reading and computer work. I think I need to find some new reading classes. This has been a very long week with school. I need to have both of my final papers done before unit 8 even rolls around, whether I can do it or not is still a mystery. I finally got scheduled for my national exam and that takes place on the 22nd which is also the last day of the term here at Kaplan. I really need to get done early so I can pour my time into studying for this exam. It is costly to have to retake it and my new temporary career depends on me passing and getting my license. Feeling a little overwhelmed right now, but hey that's life. I will write more later, I need to get the finishing touches done on my paper and get it turned in. Hope life is treating you with kindness. Have a Great Evening!
Be Safe,
Tracie

Hi Everone,

This was one of those not so enjoyable weeks when it came to class work. I had a ton of quizzes in my other class and then all the research and reading for this class. I've been reviewing my degree program and since I am done with all my open electives I really need to decide on my major electives and what classes I want to take. There are a lot to choose from and I want to make sure that I pick the right courses. I am still deciding on the direction I want to take in the health field once I get my degree. I do know one thing I will open my own business, after being in business for myself for fifteen years I know I wouldn't be able to work for an employer. I don't want salary and benefit limits placed on me, I want to be able to set my goals and reach them without interference of other employees or supervisors in my way. Time is going by quickly so I need to figure out what path to take on this journey. This has been a great year attending Kaplan and a challenging one too. I've enjoyed all my classes except the two terms of algebra, I hate math just as much as I hate spiders and snakes. This year has gone by too fast and so has this term. I can't believe we're halfway through. Well, I will write more later. I hope life is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

Hi Everyone,

The big topic of the week is plagiarism. What does plagiarism mean? It means stealing someone words out of a written document or an idea and making it your own. When referring to anyone else's words or ideas you must cite who wrote it and when it was written. If this isn't done it could turn into a legal battle for you. I am not aware of anyone in business plagiarising any of my writings or ideas. I'm pretty sure that it has happened though I just didn't catch them. When it comes the internet, there is no doubt that plagiarism is all over the place.

Good Afternoon Everyone,

I am still trying to get caught up with all my class work. Still not feeling 100% since my visit to the emergency room over the weekend. I guess I need to get that stress test scheduled to see if I am suffering with angina. I hate going through all of this it is time consuming and costly. I don't feel any stress and am not going through any life challenges, but I also can't go on with having chest pains each day. I have a lot of reading to do for our writing class and several tasks to take care of in my CAM class as well. I need to get everything done way before Tuesday this week, so I can study for my national licensing exam. The deadline is approaching soon and I have to pass that test, failure is not an option. I hope everyone is having a great day and that life is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

Good Morning Everyone!!!
I apologize for not posting anything these last few days. I have been feeling pretty yucky this past week. I really thought I was getting the flu and over the last three or four days had some heaviness and pressure in my chest. I looked up the swine flu symptoms and one of them was pressure of the chest and shortness of breath. Last night I decided I couldn't go one more night with feeling this way, because it was a little scary for me. I am not one to get all hyped up about things and I didn't want to worry my mom, so I drove to the hospital to get checked out.

Everything turned out fine, my chest x-ray showed no abnormalities in the heart. I felt worse when I left there than when I arrived though. The nurses had a hard time getting blood drawn and the pain they put my arms through was excruciating. So today I am very sore in both arms I have more holes in me now than what I had in my body the day before. I now know why I haven't gone to a medical doctor in over 20 years. I have been very fortunate with my health throughout my life, I am more into alternative healthcare. I like going to doctors that don't put anything in your body and they don't take anything out either. I think I will start going back to a chiropractor and getting regular massages. It is the one time in my life I felt really good. I have to go for a stress test to see if I have angina and I'm going to try and schedule that this coming week.

I have a lot of catching up to do with homework and getting my postings done on the discussion boards, as well as working on my thesis statement, which will be about chiropractic benefits. I hope all of you had a happy and safe Halloween. Hope life is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

HI Everyone,
Sorry I haven't posted the last couple of days. I have not been feeling my best and have been really trying to focus on the discussion boards and the tests that I have for my other class. I am hoping to be feeling better by class on Wednesday and will be posting more later this week. I hope life is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

I had a long night last night with very little sleep. I wish I could say that it was from having a lot of fun, but unfortunately that was not the case. I have a lot of class work to do today. I did take care of a lot of work around the house yesterday, so that means I can stay focused on school. I do have my thoughts together on the discussion board posting and have everything I need to get that done. Still need to do the assignment and get to work on my CAM class studies. I am going to get busy and I will check in later. I hope everyone is having a great weekend and that the world is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

Today was one of those days where I sat down and familiarized myself with all the upcoming assignments. There seems to be a lot more to keep up with this term and I'm sure as I dive more into my major that will become the norm. I'm not discouraged though, the more I get through the closer I am to graduation. If all goes well I should be getting close to having my Bachelors within the next 16 months. I am really going to try and get my class work done early this week so I can also have time to study for my national exam. I really dread that test, if they weren't 3 hours long then maybe I wouldn't have such anxiety about it. I have to do it if I want that state license. I didn't accomplish everything I wanted to do today around the house, but that's okay it's not the end of the world. I'll just have to be more focused tomorrow. I'll let you know how that goes. I hope your day was filled with success and the world is treating you with kindness.
Be Safe,
Tracie

The weather in Atlanta today is absolutely beautiful, sunny and 70 degrees. Today has been a little relaxing, trying to catch up on some chores around home. Yesterday I finished wrapping up last minute class assignments and took a couple quizzes for my CAM class. I'm looking forward to classes to night, but I should take a little nap. My last class doesn't finish till 11pm, I didn't think it would bother me, but last week it really wore me out. I hope everyone is having a day filled with success and that the world is treating you with kindness. See you in class!!!
Be Safe,
Tracie

The weather was pretty dreary here in Atlanta for several days and the temperatures have dropped. I'm thinking fall has bypassed us somehow, but the sun is shining and that's all I need to keep me going. I got a lot of my postings and responses completed. I will do more follow up today and tomorrow. Reviewing my assignment work and getting it submitted today. Later today I will be taking my quizzes for my CAM class. Once I get that done I need to put some of my focus towards studying for my national massage exam. I have to get that test out of the way so I can get my Georgia license and get my business opened up. I have until December to take the test, but time flies so I can't procrastinate or before I know it, it will be too late. It has been such a blessing not having to work this past year and it has allowed me to take advantage of this time to be dedicated to school. I think I will work really hard this week and then treat myself to spending time with friends this coming weekend. I hope everyone is having a marvelous Monday and that life is treating you with kindness.

Be Safe!

Good Morning!!! This will be my first official posting to my new blog. Yesterday was one of those laid back days, energy level has been low due to all the rain we are getting in Atlanta. As of this morning though there are some sun rays peaking through the trees and it looks like it's going to turn out to be a nice day. Today I'm fully focused on my Kaplan studies, I needed a little break after having back to back classes on Wednesday evening and my last class doesn't end until 11pm. I may have to sleep in on Wednesdays or take an afternoon nap so I can be fully engaged in my late night class. I have discussion posts to do, loads of reading and just getting familiar with class web links and my fellow class mates. I am really hoping that over the next couple of days I can get my assignments done by Sunday or Monday. I hate having to rush on Tuesdays to get things turned in, although I do work better under pressure. I'm looking forward to my classes this term, last term was killer stress with algebra only because math is yucky! This term I feel like I'm starting to get into the meat of what I have an interest in for my degree goals and that should make for some fun learning. I will post more later as the day progresses. Hope life treats you with kindness today. Be Safe!

See you in class!