The Last 6 Weeks

These last 6 six have been ridiculous in how busy they have been and the number of life changes they have brought about. I had a baby, we moved into a new apartment and now my husband has lost his job so we are both back on the job search. Life is incredibly stressful! I hate the thought of having to take a job myself because I love being a stay-at-home mom and I desperately want to be able to breastfeed my son and be there for my daughter. However, I'm feeling it's my responsibility to do what this family needs, so if I get a job before my husband does I'll work at least until he gets one.

I have been out of the workforce for several years now, so the idea of returning to a full-time job outside of the house is very daunting. I have to admit that I am very nervous about the idea and that at least a part of me is hoping that my husband will get one before me.

School has been really hard for me these last few weeks with all the things that have been going on at home. It is near to impossible for me to dedicate the mental energy that these classes deserve, but at the same time I have no choice; I do not see failure of a class as an option. So I will push through and do my best and hope that this will not ruin my GPA.

Heidi

How is school influencing your life at this point?

School, be it public or college has had a great influence on my life. I have always loved it, from when I was very young all the way through high school and still to this day. Now, I feel that it gives me purpose to my days aside from the everyday tasks of childcare and housework. Don't get me wrong, I love my children and I'm really very domestic, so I don't find "keeping house" to be a menial task at all. However, I do greatly enjoy learning and having expectations put upon me outside of the home. Knowing that what I am doing will eventually lead to a degree and a job in the field that I love is hugely helpful in keeping my self-esteem and general mood in a good place.

Having schoolwork to do also insures that my schedule is never lacking. Not that this is a problem with two small children, a husband, a house and lots of family nearby, but I like to keep things just on the edge of being too much. Otherwise, I'm likely to get bored or feel that, since I have lots of free time, I can put tasks off until a "better" time. If I don't have all that free time, things get done right away and I am far more efficient.

So college right now has an extremely positive impact on my life right now. Although it is occasionally a source of stress it is more often a source of purpose and focus.

Heidi

Plagiarism

I have been fortunate enough to never have someone plagiarize anything from me, at least to my knowledge. If someone were to, however, I think I would have a very hard time with it. I am very non-confrontational and so the idea of having to bring this issue up to someone make me uncomfortable. I suppose I would have to steel myself against my discomfort and confront the person face-to-face. I would do my best to involve as few people as possible, but since this is such a serious issue I would feel the need to make sure that it was resolved in such a way that would give me the proper credit for my work.

Likewise, if I were to know that a colleague had plagiarized against another, I would make sure that the proper people knew so that the person who deserved the credit received it. This would be an equally uncomfortable situation, but I don't think I would be able to handle knowing that someone was stealing from another and not do something about it.

Plagiarism can be such a touchy subject that I think I am not alone in feeling uncomfortable with the idea of confronting it. However, it is something that every professional must consider since it happens in all kinds of work to all kinds of people.

Thanks for reading!
Heidi

Online Education

Online college was always something that seemed to good to be true to me. How could one possibly get a good education without ever physically going to a class? However, after I had my first child I realized that I wasn't ready to give up on getting my bachelor's degree. At the same time, I desperately wanted to be able to stay home with my children and be a full-time mom too. So, the only alternative was to give online schooling a try and I'm so glad that I did!

Going to school online has given me the freedom to fully embrace both being a mom and pursuing professional interests. It lets me get things done when I have the time (to an extent, of course), and with a 21-month old and a newborn the amount of time I have to devote to studies varies greatly from day to day. It also gives me the opportunity to focus more on the coursework itself and less on the other individuals in the class. I enjoy this anonymity since it allows me to approach my education in a more direct way. Not only that, but being a young mom is often emotionally draining and I appreciate being able to go about school in a more strictly informational way.

I am so happy and thankful that online college is available to give me the ability to continue my education without stopping my life.

Heidi

Welcome!

Hi! As everyone already knows, my name is Heidi Tompkins. I am 100% new to blogging so I am a little apprehensive about the whole idea, but I'm also looking forward to it.

So I guess I can say a little about myself: my husband and I recently moved back to Maryland after living in Colorado for about 9 monthes. We have one daughter, Verity Shae Tompkins, and are preparing to welcome our son, to be named Marius Leland Tompkins, any day now :-). I have an older sister, and twin sister and a little brother. My twin and I are fraternal though, so we look nothing alike.

My husband and I met at the Culinary Institute of America where I was working on a degree in Baking and Pastry Arts and he was working on a degree in Culinary Arts. We very quickly found that it is extremely hard to be engaged in a job in the culinary field and have a family (or even any time to spend with each other) so we started looking at other careers. He is looking to go to school for Interior Architecture and Design and I'm here at Kaplan earning my Bachelor's in Nutrition Science with the aim of going into research.

I love spending time outside and doing physical things like hiking, biking, walking and camping (I would run but I have knee issues). I did ballet for 15 years but had to stop when I left for college; I'm hoping to get back into it sometime soon.

That's pretty much all I've got about me; looking forward to reading about all of you!

Heidi