by Judy

Class has started and suddenly I’m freaking out — I don’t want to do it.   Me, who loves school, now wants to run away.  Because I suck at the Internet.  Because I am the least technologically savvy member in all of Generation Y.

Even the idea of a “kitchen computer” (basically a giant recipe book) scares me.

If you are reading this post, you probably have a leg up on me.  You, dear reader, can probably do simple things like download Adobe.  I have to barter with my husband: I clean the kitchen; he puts it on my computer.  I have been doing things like this my whole computer life.  I blame my family for lagging behind — we didn’t get a computer until I was 16.

So, why am I taking a class online?  An advanced one at the 400 level, where most of my classmates have already taken several online courses and know the drill?  Because, it is so convenient, and because none of the colleges near me offer a class in grant writing.

Luckily, I have an awesome enrollment advisor who walked me through the process the first day of class.  It went longer than planned, so he called me again the next day to finish up.  I was able to post my first assignment, due the first day of class, and even responded to other posts by myself.  Here’s the assignment, a 200 word autobiography:

My name is Judy Wilson, which is my married name. 
I always think it sounds like a 1950s housewife, not someone in her mid-twenties. I have been married for about 3 ½ years.  In 2005, I graduated from Western Michigan University with a degree in English (emphasis in creative writing) and also in Comparative Religion.  My goal was always, and is still, to be a writer, but I increasingly feel the need to focus my attention on a career that will pay the bills in the interim.  Currently, I am a Unit Coordinator at a pediatric hospital.  However, this is a job that does not challenge me creatively.

I love the atmosphere of the hospital and hope to broaden my career opportunities by taking this course in grant writing.  I feel that grant writing is an avenue that would allow me to use my writing ability and also feel good about my work at the end of the day. 
My goals for this course include learning about the process of grant writing and to write some samples that I can submit along with my résumé in order to demonstrate my skill.  I am excited to get started on this course!

It is 200 words exactly, but I think that the word count is more of a guideline, as some students’ bios were over or under.

My next assignment is due at midnight tonight, Mountain Time, which means 11 PM for me on the West Coast.  I have to respond to some questions about our first reading assignment.  The reading comes from a text book that I downloaded.  It is .pdf format, hence the needing Adobe.  The responses to questions on the reading have to be about 300 words each.  I then post them under the proper thread on the “Main” forum.  There are two other forums: “Chat”, described as the student lounge, and the “Course Materials” where the teacher posts things, but students can’t respond, so I guess that really isn’t a forum.  So far all of my assignments coming up are individual assignments, but we are going to be divided into “learning teams” for some group assignments.

That’s all for now … I have to do my homework!  I’ll let you guys know how it goes.