My name is Christina. I am from Fort Plain, New York. My biggest hobby is being a Revolutionary War Reenactor. I also enjoy taking road trips around New York, as I love my state very much. I am a single parent of a wonderful girl. I have been out of school since June of 2003, and after a long delay and a lot of thinking and debating I have decided that going back to school was a good choice for me right now. My daughter is now 11 and doesn’t need as much care as she did when I first had her. Which gives me the needed time to focus and put into school work.

I am currently working on my Bachelors in Social and Criminal Justice. I would like to go on from my Bachelors, to later on achieve my Masters. Having a career to look forward too will be a new area for me, which is why I have not set on a career choice at the moment as I‘m keeping my mind open to possibilities as I learn through out this course, and the others that I will have in the future..

Learning is going through life growing and, gaining an understanding to what is happening around you. What is taking place in the world that you live in. Be it learning how to open a web page, or learning how to fix a leak… Learning is having an understanding and finding way to complete a puzzle that needs to be solved, and doing so in an effective way. Learning is a daily process and a part of life. I feel that one can not go through life with out learning something nearly on a daily bases. Be it small bits of information, or learning something that will have a great impact on you life. Such as becoming a first time home owner, to learning a piece of trivia from a game show on the television. Learning is all around you, if you open your eyes and ears to take it in. Learning face to face is a lot different than learning online. When you enroll in a “traditional” setting you are in front of everyone, and you are on the schedule of the school and professors. With online schooling you can kind of work at your own pace and on your own agenda. Still managing to juggle your personal life. I feel there is a down fall to the online learning as you don’t have that physical contact, you don’t really get to interact and grow with your peers. You don’t get to test out some of the things you learn as well, as you go. The benefits to online learning are that you can still work your full time job if you have one, raise your children if you have them. You don’t’ have the stress to try to hurry and make it to classes on time that, that you may not even be able too. So you have more freedom and control to learn on your own time.

“You’re in charge of your mind. You can help it grow by using it in the right way.”- Carol Dweck. Industrialist. This is a powerful quote to me, as it reminds me that I have the power to use my mind, and to grow as I want. The fact that I also have the ability to learn not just “ The right way” but in productive ways that will make me grow in the world around me, makes me feel empowered and uplifted. The feeling of having control of your life in this world is something that isn’t always felt, and it’s good to have reminders that you are the leaders of your own mind.