I have always been into computers and I have always been good at working with them. When I first tried college, it just really wasn't for me. I thought I was ready, but I really just spent a lot of time and money figuring out that it wasn't for me. I returned home, picked up a job, part time and my father told me I had better get my act together and start piecing together some sort of life for myself and that a part time job at a local store, was not going to cut it in the grown up world. He rode me for a while and I really just ignored him until a friend of mine came around on break and was talking to me about the Microsoft Certification Training that he had taken and how he learned a lot from this program. He said that some of the stuff he knew, but that he learned about a lot of different applications and platforms and that since Microsoft is one of the biggest names in the business, let's face it, practically the only name, that this Microsoft Certification could offer me a lot of opportunities in the field. He said that the program was suggested by someone he was interning with and that it was an excellent program, that most employers were looking for employees who had this sort of training. I decided to get online and look into it, and I printed up some of the materials to show to my parents. My father was thrilled that I was finally going to get into the computer field and do something with my interests that would allow me to make a real profession out of. He said it looked to him like I was finally getting it together, and that if I wanted he would be glad to help pay for the certification program.

Now, I am finally on my way to a real career, working with computers. Not only that, but my friend told me that after I complete the certification program that he will put in a good word for me with the company he is working for. Even in the midst of financial crisis, the computer industry is going stronger than ever, so this is a great career move.

Posted by Greg on Monday, February 09, 2009 @ 8:52 AM

Of course in high school I took a health class because it was required, but this year as an elective I decided to take human sexuality as sort of an easy class because the rest of mine were really hard for the most part.

I thought it would be basically the same as health class in high school but it was actually really interesting. We didn't just talk about genital herpes and getting STD's and safe sex, we talked about the emotions behind all of the anatomy stuff and men and women's views on sex and relationships.

We also talked a lot about the media and the role it plays on sex and how it influences people both good and bad. It was such an interesting course and even though it was at 8:30 in the morning, I actually enjoyed getting up for it (for the most part) and hearing what the teacher had to say. I thought at first I would have a hard time with it because I am more of a shy person and am not really into talking about sex with an entire classroom of people, and actually I started out in a different section of the class and ended up switching into the one I was in because the teacher was really awkward and the teacher I ended up having was great. She approached it in a scientific but also realistic way. We got to learn the anatomy of things and also the reality. For example we learned about STD's like genital herpes but we also learned about how people get them and why they don't use condoms and how the media portrays an STD and how people deal with it medically and emotionally. We always hear about things in the media or in health class but we don't really get the mix of the two things and this way we got to blend everything together so it fits better into our real lives.

It was a great class because it deals with real life and things that almost everyone will encounter (well maybe not an STD but relationships and health and sex). I would really recommend taking it and I think that at least at our school it counts as an elective and a friend of mine took basically the same course at a different university and he loved it too.

Posted by Greg on Friday, February 06, 2009 @ 9:37 AM

You can find everything online now. Even though I grew up with this technology, I still think is amazing that you can go online and do almost anything. I can email my dad to tell him that I need money and then look at my bank statement a few hours later and see that he transferred it in already! Or I can go on and get contacts or set an appointment for the dentist. I can get groceries or movies online and do my homework and stay in touch with friends from home and even Skype with friends that are studying abroad. My grandparents were looking into new health insurance and they found so many options online that they may have not found if they just called around to companies or asked friends or people they knew for advice. The downfall though is that sometimes you can get off track when you are searching online. For example when we helped them look up health insurance plans online search results for Michigan health insurance and even missionary health insurance came up. While they both seem like great plans (we read a little more into the second one because we hadn't ever heard of it) they weren't exactly what my grandparents were looking for since they were neither of those things.

But the internet can really come in handy when you are doing things from far away. Like looking online at a store or moving and having to figure out all of your plans. My aunt and uncle and their family were moving and they were able to look at evergreen Colorado real estate from their couch in Chicago and even find a home there. It is very convenient to be able to sit in your sweats and do everything from banking to shopping to buying a home online!

I do however hope that this doesn't end up making people less social. I guess having the convenience of doing things from home does save time and leaves you more time for family and friends and things that you like to do, but at the same time, if you can bank online or shop online you really do lose that communication with some of the outside world. But overall the internet is wonderful and is so easy to use (my grandparents love it) and is a blessing to everyone

Posted by Greg on Wednesday, February 04, 2009 @ 10:04 AM