Saturday, July 31, 2010

A New Experience!

Word of the day: Alacrity-eager and enthusiastic willingness

First off, I must say that I would never work in a call center full-time with anything remotely resembling alacrity!

That being said, today I had the great--and exciting--experience volunteering for a candidate who is running for state senate down here in North Carolina. Our task today was conducting a phone survey that targeted unaffiliated and independent voters. There were eight of us sitting in front of high tech phones designed especially for the purpose of surveying and polling; they looked much more complicated than they turned out to be (thank heaven!). At first I was extremely nervous--talking to strangers all day is not my first choice for a fun weekend activity--but then I started to get the hang of things.

After about two hours, I was a robot; I didn't even have to think about what I was doing. After four hours, my mind was so numb that I thought I would pass out, but I got through it with my sanity in tact. At the end of the five hours, the eight of us combined had made over two-thousand calls!

Over all it was a great experience, and the best part about it was the sharing of funny statements that were made by the people we were calling. Here are some of my favorites:

- (In an EXTREMELY deep North Carolinian accent) "If this is gunna be some kinda politikin' I don't have time for it"

-Question: "Is this [name]?" Answer: "Not right now"

-Question: "Do you have time to answer a few questions for a survey?" Answer: "With what kind of slant on it?"

-Question: "If the election were today, would you vote for [our guy] or [not our guy]?" Answer: "I would rather vote for a blind bat with a cane than send [not our guy] back to Raleigh!"

-"I don't speak English"

Yes, working at a call center would be mind numbing as a full-time job, but working the phones for a few hours every now and then for a good cause can be a hilarious pastime!

Friday, July 30, 2010

Time Management

Word of the day: Acumen-quick, keen, or accurate knowledge or insight.

One of the most important success factors of online learning, and sanity in general, is time management. One of the first things I do a month before each semester is buy a student planner and a good pen (I have a thing for pens). I prefer buying the planners with the most space to write and the ones with a monthly calender before the start of each month.

Before school starts, I print out each of the syllabuses and write down major dates and assignments in the monthly calender sections. Every Sunday night after school starts, I set aside about thirty minutes to write out my study plan for the following week; this includes my assignments that are do and the amount of time that I will spend each day on each class.

In my effort to be more acumen, I will be trying a new time management strategy this year. I will be taking three classes the first eight weeks and two classes the second eight weeks. My plan for the first eight weeks is as follows (if the syllabus looks like previous ones):

-Monday: Reading and initial discussion post for Contemporary Global Problems

-Tuesday: Reading and initial discussion post for Research Methods

-Wednesday: Reading and initial discussion post for Making of the Christian Mind

-Thursday: All response posts for discussions, work on possible writing assignments/projects

-Friday: Writing assignments/projects

This is just a tentative schedule. I will most likely have to change it from time to time, but it is very important for my stress management to have a game plan. Many people prefer to do a little work in each class each day. There are several approaches that work well for different people. If you have a time management strategy that has worked well for you, please post a comment.

Wednesday, July 28, 2010

Being Productive

Word of the day: Accretion-growth, increase by successive addition, building up.

I find myself completely taken aback as I look over what I have accomplished over the past three weeks of summer vacation, not because I have done great things but because I have done nothing. I was so very stressed out after I finished my summer courses (Statistics and Intro to Government) that I have literally been laying around all day long letting the rest of the world go by.

I am one of those people who always has big plans for her summer. This year, for example, I was planning to get through the first level of Russian, start studying for the GRE, and read a whole list of fiction and non-fiction books. As of right now, I have only gotten through three of the thirty lessons in Russian, studied thirteen of the who-knows-how-many GRE vocabulary words, and finished only one novel. I still need to finish Atlas Shrugged, both volumes of The Gulag Archipelago, and the third book in the Sword of Truth series (Blood of the Fold).

I am determined to right the wrongs of the past three weeks and get through my books, keep up with my vocab, and try to get to lesson twenty in Russian before the start of the fall semester. I will also start my reading for "Contemporary Global Problems" which, by the way, looks completely interesting.

My bad habits must end now before the start of the new term. I cannot be in reactionary mode for the entire year. I will be responsible with my time. However, I will not try to make everything change at once, but the change will come by a steady accretion.

God give me strength!

Hello Everyone!

I am extremely exited to be blogging as a member of the Regent online community. When I chose to be an online student, I knew that I would miss out on many of the perks that come with being on campus; but I know that having a Regent blog will help me feel connected to my fellow students.

This year I will be a junior studying government and international relations online. I love to read, write, drink (and smell) coffee, watch musicals and adaptions of Jane Austin's great works, look at shoes, and meditate in the silence. But most of all, I love to seek the truth and wisdom that can only come after the fear of God.

I will be writing on many subjects that include, but are not limited to, my spiritual life, life in general, my course work, news, and economics (for more posts on economics,see my Tumblr blog). Another subject that will most likely spill into my posts will be my passion for reading novels (fantasy especially) and my GRE prep vocabulary words.

In all posts, I will endeavor to refrain from negatively in all forms and strive to be encouraging to all of my readers, especially fellow online learners.

Farewell until next time!