My Ashford University Experience : online college

That old feeling of being overwhelmed

Cajun — Thu, 29 Jan 2009 02:26:00 GMT

Today was kind of rough for me. I worked from home which was great but I just realized something about 5 minutes ago. I’ve been sitting in the same chair in the same place since 7AM with the exception of a 30 minute break for lunch, an hour break...(read more)

Yet another Reason to Love Distance Education

Cajun — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 20:42:00 GMT

Oklahoma and parts of Texas are either in or soon will be in a big 24 hour ice storm. In fact it’s predicted to be so bad this evening that my job cut everyone loose at 2:00PM. Another great thing is that today I am working remotely, as in not in...(read more)

Routines and Rhythms: The keys to your success

Cajun — Thu, 22 Jan 2009 01:50:00 GMT

I’ve said it before I’ll say it again, two things you need to be successful as an online student, especially one who is also professionally employed, is good scheduling and time management skills. The thing that I use to meet the rigors of...(read more)

Combating the fear of starting a degree program

Cajun — Sun, 07 Dec 2008 01:58:00 GMT

No doubt about it, starting a degree program can be scary. We’re talking about committing to something that is very time consuming and that can cost more than a new car. The stress involved in researching and choosing a specific school and degree...(read more)

Long Days, Longer Nights

Cajun — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 01:07:00 GMT

“I guess it’s easier to get an online degree” she said to me shortly after congratulating me on finishing the requirements for my MBA.

“Whaaaaattttt?!?!?” was the reply that screamed in my mind. I suddenly had fuzzy vision as my blood pressure shot up with a white hot rage. Suddenly I hated her with the passion that only an office worker who has suddenly found his sandwich that he dreamed about all day is missing from the community refrigerator at work could possibly understand. But I calmly replied “not really” while my left eye twitched uncontrollably. How utterly dismissive was that right?

So for those looking into the “easy” online path, here is a little bit of what you can expect.

Expect:

1.) Reading assignments on the scale of between a mere 20 pages upwards to 180 pages within about a week’s time. Sorry, not too many pictures and this is single spaced in dry academic books.

2.) Writing assignments as small as 3 pages to as big as 30, depending upon the week and all. Good news though, at least you can double space these but yeah, you’ll still have to finish it within the same week as the reading assignment.

3.) To have to actually understand not only what you are reading but why exactly it was written and how it fits into the course objectives. This can slow reading considerably.

4.) Cold coffee.

5.) Tired eyes.

6.) Stress and frustration that only a sheep herder allergic to wool could relate to.

7.) An irritated spouse who is frustrated at having to spend so much time alone because you have to figure out how to perform the dreaded regression analysis over a seemingly inadequately supplied amount of information.

8.) To form a seemingly unhealthy bond with your laptop or PC.

9.) To gain weight, lose weight or both though not likely at the same time. Possibly neither but given the amount of time you spend at work then at school workouts are definitely going to become a luxury if you are married and/or have kids.

10.) To learn how to have a meal while driving, reading or even typing.

11.) To learn the joys of having slick textbook pages stuck to your face when you wakeup suddenly realizing you wasted precious time on something as trivial as sleep.

12.) To suddenly realize that while you were studying or typing away the sun came up and you haven’t been to bed yet. Oh yeah and you have to be at work in 2 hours.

13.) Long days at work and longer nights at home.

Add to: